The Fox of Konoha
by White Hunter
Summary: 6 year old Naruto is beaten by the villagers of Konoha one night and in the prosses was transported to a different world where only humanoid ducks live. R
1. Chapter 1

The Fox of Konoha

6 year old Naruto is chased by the villager of Konoha on his birthday and was beaten near to death until he was transported to another world that was far different from his own. He will meet up with different characters when he is pulled into a war that will give his a great destiny to fulfill, with a few friends that will help him along the way. Did I mention that his new friends happen to be humanoid alien ducks?

888888888888

The beginning and a new world

A young 6 year old was running down the streets of Konoha that night as he was being chased by a mob that were armed to the teeth with pitchforks, knives, wooden boards, shuriken and kunai. The young boy that was running down the street had spiky, unkempt, blonde hair, bright blue eyes that held fear, pain and sadness within them and the most striking feature on the boy's face were three whisker marks that streaked down both sides of the boy's cheek.

He was wearing a white, short sleeve t-shirt that was torn in a few places, black pants with rips in the knees and blue slip on sandals. This boy was none other than Uzumaki Naruto, the orphan of the village who had to survive each day on the street while trying to avoid the people within the village that wanted to kill him.

Naruto had been shunned by the villagers ever since the day he was born on the 10th of October. It was also on the same day of the festival that the villagers celebrate the death of the demon fox, Kyuubi, which had been destroyed by the fourth Hokage six years ago. Unfortunately for Naruto, today was the festival and that was a bad night for the young 6 year old to sneak out of his apartment on his birthday. It was the night that some of the villagers had finally had enough of Naruto roaming around Konoha on his free will.

"Come back here you monster!" shouted a man from the mob that was running after Naruto.

"Leave me alone!" shouted Naruto over his shoulder. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Don't give us that bull you monster!" yelled a woman in anger. "You were the one that took my husband away from me!"

Naruto was confused by what these people were talking about as he tried to figure out what he had done wrong to this village, but his thinking quickly came to an end when Naruto suddenly found himself in an alley with a brick wall standing in his way.

'_Oh, no!_' thought Naruto in fear before he quickly turned around to run back the other way.

But luck was not on the young boy's side. Naruto grew weak within the knees when he saw that the mob that he had been trying to out run were blocking the only exit out of the alley.

"Now we have you monster," growled one of the villagers before he threw a shuriken at the 6 year old.

Naruto cried out in pain when he felt the shuriken stab him in his right leg before he dropped to the ground. That gave the villagers the chance to swarm Naruto as they began to beat/stab their weapons down on the 6 year old. Naruto tried to curl up into a ball to protect himself from the villager's that were hurting him as tears began to form out of the corner of his eye lids that hid his blue eyes behind them.

'_Why!_' cried out Naruto within his mind. '_Why does everyone hate me? What did I ever_ _do to them?_'

Anger and frustration started to rise up within Naruto as those feelings started mixing with many others emotions that the 6 year old was feeling right now.

Mindscape

Deep within Naruto's mind, stood a giant golden cage with a parchment of paper sticking to the large doors of the cage with the kanji word 'seal' written on it. The back of the cage was so dark that you could hardly see anything in there, but something was definitely there within the shadow of darkness. A red glow flared up within the shadows as a red river of chakra began to seep out between the bars of the cage, but it was instantly pushed back by a golden aura that suddenly flashed outside the cage doors. A growl was heard within the darkness as two blood red eyes shot open in anger. Those red eyes belonged to the great beast that had been defeated by the fourth Hokage many years ago and had been sealed into Naruto's body when he was a baby. This beast is none other than the Kyuubi no Kitsune, one of the nine tailed beasts and the king of the Baijuu.

Kyuubi let out an angry growl when he sensed a presence coming towards him and saw a being standing before the bars of his cage. The person was covered completely in shadow with a golden aura surrounding his body as he stood in front of the Kyuubi's cage.

"So…you're the great beast that I've heard so much about from the spirits that roam this world," spoke the being in a male voice as he stared up into the red eyes that glared down at him. "I have to say, you're not that impressive to look at."

"**Silence mortal!**" snarled Kyuubi as his chakra flared up in anger as it illuminated the darkness within his cage. "**How dare you talk to me in such a matter, just who do you think you are by trespassing into my container's mind and body?**"

"Let's just say that I'm the type of guy who has taken an interest in this kid that you're sealed in," answered the figure calmly. "That's why I have a proposition for you."

Kyuubi's anger dwindled when he heard what the figure had said. The beast became interested as he slowly lowered his body and head down to the ground so that he can get eye level with the figure that stood before him.

"**And what is this proposition?**" asked Kyuubi in curiosity.

"It's simple," the figure bluntly replied. "You let me take a place with you inside this boy's body and I let you out of your cage, but on a few conditions."

"**I knew that there would be a catch,**" muttered Kyuubi as a frown spread out across his muzzle before letting out a deep sigh. "**Alright mortal, what are your demands?**"

"The first condition is that you teach the villagers, who are hurting this boy, a lesson," explained the being as he told the Kyuubi the first catch. "The second condition is that you give a small amount of your chakra to the boy so that he can survive the process of me connecting with his soul and the third condition is for you to help me train this boy to what he was destined to be when he comes of age."

Kyuubi narrowed his eyes at the being when he heard what the second condition was, but if it meant getting out of this stinking cage then he was willing to sacrifice a little of his chakra just to be free of this prison. But the third condition made the fox confused on what the being had just said to him. Help train the boy for what? And just who was this guy anyway?

"**Alright,**" growled Kyuubi in distaste. "**I'll meet up to your conditions.**"

"Good," said the being with a nod of approval. "Now all that has to be done is to bring the boy here before we begin the process."

"**Leave that to me,**" rumbled Kyuubi before his eyes began to glow a crimson red.

It only took a minute before Naruto appeared between the two beings. The shadowy figure slowly walked towards the unconscious form of the 6 year old and bent down to get a better look at the boy. What the figure saw made his blood boil to the point where it burned like fire. Naruto's body harbored many wounds that the people of Konoha had inflicted upon him.

Old and new wounds covered the boy's entire body. Some of the wounds were so deep that you could see the bones sticking out as blood poured out of the deep gushes of the boy's injuries. The shuriken that had been thrown at the boy was buried deep within the leg. The being's aura flared up as it lit the whole room and bathed it in a golden light before it slowly died down.

In his cage, Kyuubi's eyes widened in surprise after he felt the stranger's aura before they narrowed in suspicion as he stared at the shadowy being that knelt beside the body of the 6 year old human boy.

"**Just who in seven hells are you?**" questioned Kyuubi as he watched the being slowly pick up the boy and cradled him within his arms.

The being looked up at the Kyuubi as he held the boy close to his chest before answering the demon: "I'm a being who came from a different world where there are no humans. Now…are you ready to do the process or what?"

The Kyuubi let out a rumbling sigh of defeat when he knew that he would only get that much information out of the being that had intruded his container's mind.

"**Alright,**" growled Kyuubi. "**But be warned, that kit will not look the same after my chakra has been transferred to him.**"

"I know," answered the being as he looked down at the 6 year old within his arms.

The nine tailed beast nodded his head before he started to summon his chakra. A small red strand of chakra slowly leaked out from the cage and began to enter Naruto's body. The 6 year old began to moan in pain as he felt his body starting to burn, but the being's golden light gently soothed the boy as it helped him through the process. Naruto's body began to change as his human ears disappeared and were replaced by two golden fox ears with black at the tips, a golden fox tail slowly appeared behind Naruto's rear end and his blonde hair began to take on a golden tint with a few red streaks in it.

The deep wounds that had once covered the boy's body slowly closed up and became nothing but small scratches but there were some wounds that refused to close as blood still poured out of the deeper areas on the boy's body. The shuriken was still lodged within the boy's leg and the being didn't want to risk hurting the boy by pulling the metal star out.

"**It is done,**" spoke Kyuubi. "**Now it is time that you held up your part of the bargain.**"

The being nodded his head before he walked up to the cage. The being adjusted the 6 year old in his arms before he reached out with his right hand. He touched the parchment that sat on the doors of the gate with the tip of his fingers as he began to concentrate on what he needed to do. The same golden aura appeared as it glowed around the seal that held the nine tailed beast behind the cage doors. It took about a second as the cage bars began to disintegrate until they turned to dust, but the process wasn't done yet. The parchment of paper slowly burned away. The only thing that was left of the parchment was the Japanese word for 'seal'. The being glared at the word 'seal' for a moment before he thrust his arm forward as he pushed the Kanji word towards Kyuubi. The kanji word shot towards the large fox before it slammed into the beast's forehead. Kyuubi let out a growl as he shook his head left to right when he felt the pain of the seal starting to burn for a moment before it quickly subsided.

The fox scrunched his eyes upwards as he glared up at the seal for a moment before glaring down at the being in front of him.

"**Just be thankful that I'm not going to bite your head off after you had just freed me from that cage,**" growled the Kyuubi in a deep voice.

The being just smirked up at the fox before him: "Shouldn't you be more focused on teaching those villagers a lesson instead of biting my head off? Or have you already forgotten that part of our deal?"

"**I have not forgotten mortal,**" rumbled the nine tailed beast. "**I will give those villagers a taste of their own medicine, but before I do I must ask you again. Just who are you?**"

"If you really want to know my name then I will happily answer your question," the being chuckled with a smirk. "My name…is Drake DuCaine, the hero of a planet called Puckworld."

Kyuubi's eyes widened for a moment as he stared down at the being that held the 6 year old boy in his arms. Many demons and spirits have heard of the legendary being called Drake DuCaine; for he was once a great warrior that had fought against the Saurian overlords that had invaded his home world a thousand years ago. Kyuubi had a great disliked for the hero and would always tear off the heads of anyone that so much as mentions the being's name. But after what the being did for him, Kyuubi decided to let his hatred of Drake DuCaine go. The great beast slowly bowed his great head at Drake DuCaine in respect.

"**I thank you for releasing me Drake DuCaine, but why are you so interested in the young kit?**"

"Because I see great potential in this young boy," replied Drake DuCaine as he turned his gaze on Naruto. "Naruto might be the only hope in saving my people from the Saurian Overlords for I fear that they will return someday to enslave my planet once again."

Kyuubi frown as he though over what Drake DuCaine had said: _**'And I thought having a demon trapped inside him and being called a monster was bad enough for the kit.**_'

"But he won't be alone," continued the being as he turned to face Kyuubi again. "For no one should face off against the Saurians alone. Now, shouldn't you be going now?"

Kyuubi merely smirked at the being before he faded away and out of Naruto's mind. Drake watched the nine tailed beast disappear before he looked back down at Naruto sadly.

"Naruto…your father wanted the villagers to see you as a hero, but their fear for Kyuubi only feud their hatred for you. I just hope that where I'm taking you, you'll be seen as a hero."

Naruto let a light moan as a few strands of his hair fell across his face, but the strands were gently pushed away from the boy's face by the being holding him.

"Stay strong Naruto," whispered Drake. "And do not lose hope no matter how dark things may seem."

Outside of Naruto's mindscape

Naruto laid on the cold ground of the alley with blood pouring out of his wounds as the villagers stood around the boy's body while they cheered at what they had accomplished tonight.

"At last, the monster is dead!" shouted one of the villagers.

But their celebration was quickly cut short when the still form of the six year old began to glow as a cloak of red chakra surrounded the boy's body. The villagers stepped back in fear as the red chakra slowly rose up and detached itself from Naruto's body before it grew into the creature that everyone feared the most; the Kyuubi. The red chakra became the solid form of the nine tailed beast before the Baijuu let out a snarl as its white eyes glared down at the villagers that were standing before it. The villagers were quickly caught off guard when the Kyuubi suddenly lunged at them. The alley was filled with screams that night as the Kyuubi ranked his claws down on the flesh of the villagers while tearing off a leg or arm that got too close to his jaws. While this was going on, Naruto's body began to move as the boy started to awaken from his unconscious state, but before he could open his eyes a blue vortex suddenly appeared above him. The Kyuubi snarled as he let a few of the villagers escape with only a couple of scratches. The nine tailed fox breathed heavily for a moment before he felt the burning pain of the Kanji seal on his forehead. The fox let out a short growl as his body transformed back into red chakra that disappeared back into the boy's body before the vortex swallowed up the six year old. The vortex slowly closed in on itself before disappearing in to thin air.

Two minutes later

Naruto started to slowly open his eyes as he began to awaken from unconsciousness. His vision was a little blurry at first, but it slowly got clearer and he soon saw that he was still in the alley, but something was different about it.

The first thing that Naruto noticed to his relief was that the villagers, who had been chasing and beating him to a pulp, weren't surrounding him anymore. The second thing he noticed was that the ground and temperature were a lot colder than usual. Slowly, Naruto sat up with a painful groan as the wounds that he had received from the villagers still stung, along with the shuriken that was lodged in his right leg.

"W-where am I?" croaked Naruto as he looked at his surroundings.

The alley that he was in was completely different from the one he had been in a few minutes ago. The buildings that rose up around him looked as if they were made of metal for they looked smoother than the buildings that he was used to, and when he looked down at the ground he saw that the pavement was covered in ice. That was when Naruto noticed his reflection within the surface of the ice. Naruto saw that his whisker birth marks had grown much darker on his face, and his hair had changed from a bright yellow to a dark golden color with red highlights in it. On top of his head were two fox ears that would twitch once in a while at the slightest sound that would catch the boy's hearing.

"What the…?" started Naruto as he slowly raised his hands up towards his head before he started to tug on his new fox ears until he yanked a little harder on them.

He let out a yelp of pain as he quickly realized that the fox ears which were on top his head are actually real: "NO WAY!"

Naruto quickly looked behind him and saw a black tipped fox tail sticking out of his rear end: "This cannot be happening to me."

Suddenly, Naruto heard something sliding towards him. The 6 year old quickly turned his gaze forward and saw a small, flat, circular black object sliding towards him before it slowly came to a stop in front of him. Naruto arched an eyebrow at the object in front of him before he began to pick it up, but quickly dropped it when he heard voices coming towards him.

"I think the puck went this way!" shouted a voice that belonged to an 8 year old.

"Uh-oh!" whispered Naruto as he quickly started to search for a hiding place.

He soon spotted one. Naruto quickly dived behind some boxes before he slowly peeked out of his hiding place to see if the 8 year old had come into the alley or not, and what he saw made his lower jaw drop wide open. Standing before him was an 8 year old humanoid duck. The duck had tan feathers covering its entire body and dark brown eyes. The duck was wearing human clothes that were fitted for the cold weather. The duck was wearing a black jacket with a short sleeve blue shirt hidden underneath it, baggy brown pants, and on the duck's feet were the strangest foot wear that Naruto had never seen before. They looked like boots with sharp edged metal blades attached to the bottom as the blades cut into the ice underneath the duck's feet. On top of the ducks head was a tuff of tan colored hair that went over its forehead. Naruto glanced at the bird's figure and saw that this duck was male.

'_N-no way,_' thought Naruto in disbelief as he shook his head to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating. '_I must be dreaming._'

"Hey Canard, did you find that puck yet!" called a voice from the entrance of the alley.

"Yeah, I did!" answered the tan duck.

Naruto watched the duck from his hiding spot as the 8 year old stretched his right hand out to grab the black object. Just then, the young 6 year old suddenly felt his nose starting to twitch. The boy soon let out a loud sneeze before he could stop himself. The duck froze in what he was doing and quickly turned his head towards Naruto's hiding spot. Naruto quickly ducked back behind the boxes and tensed as he shut his eyes tight in fear.

'_Please don't let him find me, please don't let him find me,_' prayed Naruto rapidly within his head in desperation.

"Hey Canard," spoke the same voice from before as it entered the alley. "What's the hold up?"

"Wildwing…I don't think were alone here," voiced the tan duck.

Naruto kept really quiet in hopes that this duck and the new comer would go away, but that was not the case. Before the 6 year old knew it, the boxes he had been hiding behind were slowly lifted away from him and that was when instinct kicked in. Ignoring the pain in his leg and of his injuries, Naruto blindly leapt to his feet and began to make a brake for it, but he was suddenly caught by strong arms that lifted him right off the ground.

"Got ya!" exclaimed the same voice that Naruto had heard from the entrance of the alley.

Naruto began to squirm within the being's arms as he tried to escape from his captive's grip.

"Hey, hey easy," soothed the being that held Naruto in his gentle yet strong arms. "Just calm down, it's alright."

That was when Naruto suddenly felt an unknown force touch his right fox ear and he quickly froze up within the arms of the being that held him. His muscles tensed as he felt his ear continuing to be tug on by the person standing behind him before he let out a small whimper of fear.

"P-please, d-don't hurt me," pleaded Naruto quietly.

"It's okay, we're not going to hurt you," soothed the being again.

Slowly, Naruto opened his eyes and saw that he was facing the being's chest. He quickly looked up at the person that was holding him in a tight, yet gentle embrace. It was another male duck, but unlike the first one this duck had white feathers that were as pure as snow. He was wearing a blue jacket over a white t-shirt, light brown pants, and the same blade boots like the first duck was wearing. The duck had dark blue eyes and a tuff of white hair on top of his head.

The first duck was standing behind Naruto and in front of the white 8 year old mallard as he gently tugged on the strange boy's ears. He soon drew his hand back with an astonished look on his face before looking down at the bushy tail that was frizzed up in fear.

"Wildwing…I think those ears and that tail are real," stated the tan duck to the white mallard that held the 6 year old in his arms.

"Yeah, and so are these injuries," added the white duck to his friend.

The tan duck took another look at Naruto and saw the scars/wounds that covered the boy's body. He also spotted the shuriken that was buried deep in the boy's leg. The tan duck cringed at the sight before him until he turned his gaze back on the boy who was now facing him with his blue eyes staring at the tan duck in fear.

"What happened to you?" asked the tan duck to the 6 year old.

Naruto hesitated for a moment until he finally answered the tan duck's question: "I-I was being chased by a bunch of people that wanted to hurt me."

"Were these people like you? In body and form I mean?" asked the white duck curiously as he looked down at the kid he held within his arms.

"N-no," stuttered Naruto as he shook his head at the white mallard. "T-the people that were chasing me were more human t-than I a-am now."

"Why were these…humans…chasing you?" pressed on the tan duck as he scratched the side of his head in confusion.

"B-because…they think I'm a monster," sniffed Naruto as he began to shiver from both the cold and the tears that were starting to roll down his face.

The tan duck shared a look with the white duck as the 8 year old felt pity for the 6 year old fox/boy. The tan duck quickly slipped off his jacket before draping it over Naruto's shoulders. He gently lifted the 6 year old out of his friend's arms and into his own.

"We'd better get this kid to the hospital," stated the tan duck.

"I'll gather up the puck and hockey sticks," said the white duck as the two of them began to skate out of the alley with the puck now in the white mallard's hand.

Naruto looked up at the duck that was carrying him with his eyes full of confusion, but his confusion soon turned into drowsiness until he finally let sleep over come him.

Ten hours later

Naruto let out a small groan as he began to awaken from his sleep. The boy slowly opened his eyes and saw a white ceiling hanging above him. Slowly, the 6 year old sat up on the bed that he was lying in before he began to look around the white room.

"W-where am I?" voiced Naruto quietly before he noticed that his body was wrapped up in bandages and that the shuriken was not in his leg anymore.

He also noticed that he wasn't wearing his usual clothes anymore. He was now wearing a light blue short-sleeve shirt and light blue pajama bottoms. Naruto blinked as he stared down at the bandaged that was wrapped around his upper left arm when he suddenly heard the door to his room being opened.

Naruto turned his head towards the door and saw a female white duck with long blonde hair and dark blue eyes walking into the room. She was wearing a white overcoat over a green shirt and a short black skirt. On her feet were slip-on black shoes. She was holding a clipboard in her right arm as her blue eyes stared at Naruto in surprise.

"Oh, I see you're awake," stated the female duck in a gentle voice as she smiled at Naruto. "How are you feeling?"

"G-good…" answered Naruto quietly, "But…where am I?"

The female duck walked over to Naruto and sat down in a chair that stood next to the bed: "You don't have to be afraid of me; I'm not going to hurt you. You're in the Ice Town hospital on Puckworld."

"Puckworld?" echoed Naruto as he blinked his eyes up at the female duck.

"Yes, it's the planet that you are currently on now," answered the female duck as she looked down at her clipboard before she scribbled something down on it.

Naruto looked at the female bird with uncertainty, but he was quickly distracted when he suddenly heard voices from outside the door.

"Will he be okay Wing?" asked a 5 year old voice curiously.

"Don't worry dive, he'll be okay," answered a familiar voice.

"That would be my two sons," said the female duck with a chuckled as a smile spread out on her face when she saw Naruto looking towards the door. "I should probably introduce myself. I'm Mrs. Lydia Flashblade, and who might you be?"

"N-Naruto Uzumaki ma'am," answered the 6 year old.

"It's nice to meet you," said Mrs. Flashblade sweetly before the 5 year old voice suddenly spoke up again.

"Come on, let me see!" exclaimed the same 5 year old voice from the door.

"Will you just calm down Nosedive," said another familiar voice wearily.

Naruto cocked his head to the side as he tried to get a better view of the door and saw the familiar face of the tan duck that he had met in the alley peek around the corner of the door. Mrs. Flashblade turned towards the door and saw the 8 year old duckling before she smiled at him.

"You three can come in and see him now if you like Canard," said Mrs. Flashblade.

"Okay," voiced the tan duck before he walked into the room with the white 8 year old duck following after him with a young 5 year old duckling holding onto the white duck's hand.

The duckling had peach-yellow feathers, a mop of blond hair and blue eyes that stared up at Naruto in curiosity. He was wearing a dark blue short-sleeve shirt with a white stripe going across his chest, dark brown pants and white runners.

The tan duck was wearing black/red runners while the white duck was wearing blue/white runners. The two older ducklings and younger duckling walked up to Mrs. Flashblade until they were all standing near Naruto's bed.

"So how's he doing mom?" asked the white duck.

"He's going to be just fine honey," replied Mrs. Flashblade as she looked down at her eldest son. "After a few days rest he'll be back on his feet and walking again in no time."

"That's good," the tan duck sighed in relief.

"I have to go now," announced Mrs. Flashblade before she got up from her chair. "Until then, I want you three to stay here and keep an eye on this young boy for me. I'll be back in a few minutes."

The four boys watched as the adult walked out of the room while closing the door behind her. The room was quiet for a moment as the four boys looked at each other for they weren't sure what to say to each other until the 5 year old duckling suddenly jumped up onto Naruto's bed and sat down on the edge with a huge smile on his beak.

"Hi, I'm Nosedive," said the duckling excitedly. "What's your name kid?"

"N-Naruto Uzumaki," answered the 6 year old quietly.

"That's a funny name," Nosedive chuckled as he cocked an eyebrow at Naruto.

The white 8 year old duck frowned at Nosedive before looking back at Naruto with a smile: "You'll have to excuse my brother here. Sometimes he forgets his manners as well as his beak."

"That's okay," reassured Naruto as a small smile appeared on his face.

"Anyways, my name is Wildwing Flashblade, Nosedive's older brother," said the white mallard as he introduced himself. "And this guy right beside me is my best friend, Canard Thunderbeak."

"Nice to meet you," replied tan duck as he held his hand out towards Naruto.

Naruto took the offered hand and shook it gently before pulling his own hand back: "Like wise."

"Hey, um, just a question," popped in Nosedive once again. "Are those ears and that tail of yours real?"

Naruto blinked in confusion until he quickly remembered his fox ears and tail. The boy slowly frowned in sadness as he nodded his head at Nosedive before the young duckling suddenly reached out with his right hand to grab one of Naruto's ears. The 6 year old quickly froze up as he waited for the duckling to yank on his right fox ear, but it never happened for he only felt a light tug on his fox ear before it changed to a gentle rub. Naruto slowly opened his eyes and stared at Nosedive in surprise before he started to feel his muscles relax under the duckling's gentle touch.

"Hey kid," spoke Canard in good humor. "If you aren't careful you'll wind up putting Naruto to sleep again."

"But his ears are so soft!" whined Nosedive in complaint.

"You can play with his ears later little bro," said Wildwing gently. "Right now we need to ask Naruto a few questions."

"Okay," muttered Nosedive with a pout as he dropped his hand down from the ear that he was touching.

Naruto snickered a little at Nosedive's face when he saw how funny the duckling looked. The older ducklings also laughed at Nosedive before they all settled down. Canard walked around to the other side of Naruto's bed and sat on the edge while Wildwing sat in the chair that Mrs. Flashblade had occupied earlier before he began to talk.

"So Naruto, how exactly did you wind up in that alley?"

"I don't really know," replied Naruto with a shrug. "All I remember was being chased by the villagers because I snuck out of my apartment so that I could have fun at the festival on my birthday."

"Your birthday huh?" said Canard with a thoughtful look on his face. "How old are you now?"

"I'm 6 years old," replied Naruto proudly.

"Cool!" exclaimed Nosedive in excitement. "So this festival comes around every year on your birthday? What do you celebrate?"

"The festival celebrates the day of how the Fourth Hokage destroyed one of the nine tailed beast lords that had attacked Konoha 6 years ago," explained Naruto with a large smile on his face.

"What's a Hokage?" asked Nosedive in a confused tone.

Naruto stared at Nosedive for a moment before scratching the back of his head in thought.

"Well…a Hokage is like a…like a leader. He looks after the people of Konoha, lays down the rules that kind of stuff."

"And what about this…beast that you're talking about, what is it exactly?" asked Wildwing.

"The beast that I'm talking about is a giant fox with nine tails," answered Naruto. "The fox was called the Kyuubi and it was said that the fox was as tall as a mountain. It was also said that the Kyuubi can create tornados with just one sweep of one of its nine tails."

"Whoa," voiced Nosedive. "I hate to come face to face with a giant fox like that in a dark alley."

"Me too," added Canard in agreement. "But that still doesn't add up to why Naruto was being chased by the humans of his village."

"The people within the village called me a monster," spoke Naruto as a sad look came over his face. "They also beat me up a lot until I can't move or until I'm near death. That's what they were doing to me on my birthday when I snuck out of my home. They chased me into an alleyway where it was a dead end for me. That was when everything turned for the worse as one of the villagers threw a shuriken into my leg."

"You mean that metal star blade that our mother just pulled out of your leg when you were unconscious?" asked Wildwing.

Naruto nodded his head at the older Flashblade: "But that's not all, the villagers also started to beat and stab me with other kinds of weapons until I blacked out. I then woke up and found myself in that alley of snow and ice. That was when I met up with you and Canard."

"And what about your parents?" questioned Canard. "Did they beat you up too?"

"I…I don't have any parents," answered Naruto quietly. "The villagers within Konoha said that monsters like me don't deserve human parents."

Canard bit the edge of his lower beak when Naruto said that he didn't have any parents: "Me and my big beak."

"It's okay," reassured Naruto. "You didn't know."

"I have another question," piped Nosedive once again. "Why do the villagers call you a monster?"

"I…didn't really know at first because I was human like them once, but now I do." The 6 year old looked down at his hands as he soon noticed that his nails had become sharper, almost like claws. "Look at me; I've turned into the very thing that the villagers fear. I'm a monster now and I don't deserve to live."

Tears started to form within the boy's eyes as his hands clenched into fists as they clutched the top part of bed his bed sheet. The three ducklings looked at the boy for a moment before they shared a look with each other Wildwing was the first one to act as he leaned forward on the chair and gently wiped away a stray tear that streamed down Naruto's right cheek and that made the 6 year old look up at him.

"Naruto, you're not a monster," reassured Wildwing gently as he sat back in the chair again. "You have feelings just like any other human and duck would have."

"Really?" voiced Naruto as he looked at Wildwing with hopeful eyes.

"Yeah," replied Canard as he placed his right hand gently on top of Naruto's shoulder. "You have emotions like us and that's what makes you human."

Naruto looked at Canard for a moment before the 6 year old flung his arms around the tan duck's neck and began to cry into the older duckling's shoulder. Canard was surprised at first by Naruto's action, but soon wrapped his arms around the fox/boy as he held the young 6 year old while Naruto cry out his sorrows.

Wildwing and Nosedive watched the two for a moment before looking at each other with smiles coming across both their beaks.

In the lobby of the hospital

Mrs. Flashblade walked down the hallway before entering through the lobby doors where she met up with three other adult ducks.

One of them was a male duck. He had peach-tan feathers with a short blaze of white hair on top of his head and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a black leather jacket over a dark blue shirt, blue jeans and black boots. This was Mrs. Flashblade's husband, Mr. Justin Flashblade. He was taller than his wife with a fine body structure that had a light muscle tone to it.

The second male mallard that was beside Mr. Flashblade had dark brown feathers and light brown eyes. He was the same height as Mr. Flashblade with a muscle toned body. He was wearing a dark purple shirt with a brown vest over top of it, dark blue jeans and army boots. This is Canard's father, Mr. Armand Thunderbeak. He was part of the military that protects Puckworld from any alien invaders. He is also good friends with the Flashblade family.

The last duck was a female with long black hair, tan feathers and dark green eyes. She was wearing a light blue jacket over a violet halter-top, brown jeans and white boots. This was Mrs. Jasmine Thunderbeak, Mr. Thunderbeak's wife and Canard's mother.

"How's the kid feeling?" asked Mr. Flashblade to his wife.

"The boy is fine honey," answered Mrs. Flashblade in reassurance. "And that's what surprises me since he had a few wounds that were so deep that I'm surprised that he didn't die from them. A lot of blood was pouring out of those injuries so I had to stitch them up before he lost any more blood, but the smaller scratches that I had looked at suddenly closed up in only a few minutes time after Wildwing and Canard brought him here to the hospital."

"That kid our two boys brought in is a strange one," remarked Mr. Thunderbeak with a frown. "But the question that stands before us now is; what are we going to do with him?"

"I guess the boy will have to go into an orphanage for a while until we can find a family who is willing to adopt him," answered Mrs. Flashblade sadly. "And if we can't then he'll have to be put into foster care."

"But where did this kid come from, and what the heck is his name?" questioned Mr. Thunderbeak impatiently.

"He said that his name was Naruto Uzumaki," replied Mrs. Flashblade calmly. "As for where he came from…I'm not really sure; I haven't asked him that question yet."

"Then how do we know if he's not some alien spy that's been sent to our planet to invade it?" exclaimed Mr. Thunderbeak in anger.

"Dear…" soothed Mrs. Thunderbeak as she placed her hands on her husband's shoulder and arm before looking calmly back at Mrs. Flashblade, "Would it be alright for us to see this boy?"

Mrs. Flashblade smiled as she nodded her head at Mrs. Thunderbeak's question before she began to lead her husband and the Thunderbeak's to the room that held Naruto, Canard and the Flashblade brothers. The adults walked down the hall in silence until they came to the door of the room, and when Mrs. Flashblade opened the door a surprising sight met the adult's eyes. On the bed lay the three ducklings that were all curled up around the alien boy. Naruto was being held within Canard's arms as his tail draped over Nosedive's stomach and waist while the five year old was lying on his back and Wildwing was on his side with his left arm draped over his little brother's body. All four of them were sleeping together with a peaceful look on all of their faces.

The adults quietly walked over to the bed as they stared down at the sleeping children with smiles spread out across their beaks, even Mr. Thunderbeak had to smile at the scene before him.

"Ain't that the cutest sight to see," voice Mr. Flashblade quietly.

"I have to admit that I'm surprised," muttered Mr. Thunderbeak. "Usually my son would keep to himself and only connect with kids his own age. He never really liked little kids for he would always say that they were nothing but trouble for him. So this is the first time I've ever seen Canard take a liking towards a kid that is younger than him."

"Honey, I just thought of something…" voiced Mrs. Thunderbeak when an idea suddenly popped into her head before she whispered her thoughts into her husband's ear.

Mr. Thunderbeak's eyes widened in surprise before looking at his wife in disbelief: "You want to adopt this child as one of our own!"

Mrs. Thunderbeak's nodded her head in eagerness as a smile spread out on her beak.

"I think that would be a great idea," stepped in Mr. Flashblade. "After all, Nosedive doesn't have any friends that he can call his own and he constantly follows his brother around. So if Canard had a younger brother with him then…"

"Alright, alright, fine!" hissed Mr. Thunderbeak as he interrupted Mr. Flashblade. "We'll adopt the kid, but I ain't gonna like it and neither will Canard after he wakes up and we tell him."

What the adults didn't know was that Canard and Wildwing were eavesdropping on the whole conversation as they pretended to sleep on the bed with one of their eyes wide open. The two older ducklings smiled at each other. Canard had secretly wanted a brother ever since he was 6 years old and now he was finally getting one. Wildwing on the other hand felt relief, along with excitement. The white mallard was relieved that Naruto wasn't going to be put into an orphanage and he was excited for it meant that Nosedive will finally have a friend to call his own. Canard held the young 6 year old closer to him while Naruto unconsciously cuddled up against Canard's chest as a smile spread out across his face.

Ice skating, brothers and the legend of Drake DuCaine

It had only been a few weeks since Naruto had been let out of the hospital and was adopted by the Thunderbeak family. He was a little uneasy at first in living with strangers like them, but he soon started to warm up to Canard and his mother.

Canard was gentle with Naruto and would not rush him when the 6 year old wanted to talk to him about his past. Mrs. Thunderbeak was someone that Naruto looked up to as a mother figure for she was always patient with the 6 year old and would always comfort him if he had hurt himself or had a bad dream about his past.

As for Canard's father, well…the male mallard didn't really want to have anything to do with Naruto and that made the 6 year old a little uneasy of the older mallard's presence around him. The boy would keep his distance from Mr. Thunderbeak while also staying out of the adult's way whenever they were in the same room together.

As for the Flashblade brothers, Naruto had quickly taken a liking to both of them right off the bat. Nosedive and Naruto had become fast friends with each other as they began to hang out together, along with their brothers, whether they were in school or out of school. Nosedive had proven to be a loyal friend to Naruto by staying with him through think and thin no matter how tough the times were and would cheer his friend up whenever Naruto was sad or lonely.

Wildwing was and can be a little strict at times, but he was always a good companion to hang around with. He was like a second older brother to Naruto for Wildwing would tell the young 6 year old on how much he knew about Puckworld and what it was like. Wildwing also helped Canard out in teaching Naruto about hockey and how it was played.

Naruto was given a new set of clothes that had been bought for him by Mrs. Thunderbeak since his old set of clothes were torn and were not suited for the cold winters on Puckworld. Naruto was now wearing a long sleeve white shirt with a blue horizontal oval in the middle along with a dark blue vest over top of it, baggy pants that were held up by a brown leather belt and white/blue runners.

Naruto was getting use to his new life on Puckworld, but he was still not use to the traditions, yet he was willing to give them a try. One day, Canard, Wildwing and Nosedive had decided to take Naruto out with them to the skating rink so that they could teach the young 6 year old how to skate. Wildwing's and Nosedive's father was a sports shop keeper for hockey equipment like skates, pucks and hockey sticks so Mr. Flashblade had been requested by the two Flashblade brothers to make a set of hockey skates for Naruto.

We now find Naruto standing in his new skates on the ice of the rink in DuCaine Metropolis. The 6 year old tried to keep his balance on the ice as he began to skate a little on the frozen surface, but he soon slipped and fell down onto his back with a thud.

"Ow," muttered Naruto as he sat up on the ice while rubbing his backside and rear end in pain.

"You okay little bro?" asked Canard as he skated over to Naruto in worry.

"Yeah," answered Naruto with a nod of his head. "I'm okay Canard."

"That's good," voice Canard as he sighed in relief.

He soon helped the young 6 year old up while he kept Naruto balanced on the ice by holding the fox/boy by the arms.

"Ain't as easy as it looks, huh squirt," Wildwing joked as he skated over to Naruto and Canard.

Nosedive was skating with Mrs. Flashblade as the younger mallard flew across the ice like a streak of lightning while the female drake watched her son closely to make sure that he wouldn't trip and fall on the ice. Naruto watched Nosedive in envy before looking up at Canard and Wildwing.

"Well I haven't really done this before," answered Naruto truthfully as he wobbled a little bit on the ice. "Because it never really snowed that much in Konoha and we don't have foot wear like these skates either."

Naruto's point was proven when he suddenly felt himself falling forward again, but he was quickly caught by Canard as the 8 year old lifted the blonde haired boy up off the ice and into his arms.

"I think that we should take a little bit of a brake," suggested Canard with a smile.

Wildwing and Naruto nodded their heads in agreement before they skated over to the ice rink steps with Canard carrying the 6 year old in his arms. The young Halfling plopped down on the steps with a sigh after Canard had put him back down on the ice again before the 6 year old stared out across the rink as he watch the other ducks of Puckworld skate around on the ice. That was when he spotted a 20 foot tall statue of a duck. It was mounted on a giant pedestal in the middle of the ice rink. The figure of the statue was clad in armor and the duck's face was covered by a duck shaped goalie mask. On first glance Naruto almost thought the statue looked like Wildwing for it held a slight resemblance to the younger drake.

Naruto quickly started tugging on Canard's jacket after the 8 year old and Wildwing had sat down on the steps with him before the 6 year old pointed at the statue: "Canard, why is there a statue standing in the middle of the ice?"

Canard looked down at Naruto for a moment before he turned his eyes and head towards the statue that the 6 year old was pointing at.

"That statue there was built in the honor of our greatest hero that had saved Puckworld a hundred years ago Naruto, his name was Drake DuCaine," answered Canard as he looked down at Naruto with a smile.

"Drake DuCaine…" voiced Naruto as he stared up at Canard before he turned to look at the statue again.

"He was also one of Puckworld's greatest goalies and the ultimate team captain," stepped in Wildwing as he looked down at the 6 year old that sat between him and Canard. "But over the years, the stories of Drake DuCaine became only legends and nobody believes in them anymore."

"How did Drake DuCaine become a hero?" asked Naruto curiously as he looked up at Wildwing. "What did he do?"

"Well, legends states that Puckworld had been invaded by giant alien lizards that called themselves the Saurian overlords," replied Canard as he looked down at the fox/boy beside him. "They were a ruthless race of aliens that would destroy anything that stood in their way. They enslaved the people of Puckworld and made them work in their mines, but Drake DuCaine was the one who soon stepped up to fight against the Saurian overlords. After a long and hard battle, he finally vanquished the evil alien lizards and banished them to another dimension. After the defeat of the Saurian overlords, the people of Puckworld built that statue to honor Drake DuCaine and hockey didn't just become the main sport of our planet, it also became our way of life."

"Wow!" exclaimed Naruto in fascination and excitement. "But why do the people say that Drake DuCaine is just a myth?"

"Because no one really knows whether the stories of Drake DuCaine are real or not." Wildwing explained as he answered the 6 year old boy's question. "For no one has ever found the mask of Drake DuCaine."

Naruto looked up at Wildwing for a moment before turning his eyes downwards to look at the ice below him as the 6 year old stared at his reflection. He began to mull over what the two 8 year old ducks had told him before a smile of determination came over his face. He turned his eyes back onto the statue of Drake DuCaine.

"Someday…I'm going to become a legendary hero of Puckworld," voiced Naruto as he clenched his right hand into a fist. "That's a promise."

Canard stared down at his adopted brother for a moment before a smile stretched out across his beak. The 8 year old dug into his right pocket before pulling his hand halfway out.

"Naruto, I want you to close your eyes for a moment," said Canard.

Naruto turned his attention on Canard as he looked up at the tan duck with confused eyes, but he did what the 8 year old told him as the 6 year old closed eyes. Naruto's fox ears twitched when he heard a jingling sound in front of him, but he kept his eyes shut for he didn't want to anger Canard by disobeying his order. After a few minutes, Naruto felt a small weight hanging down and around his neck.

"Okay, you can open them now," announced Canard.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes before looking down at the object that was now hanging around his neck and the 6 year old saw a metal chain encircling his neck. Hanging from the chain were two military dog tags. One of them bared his name while the second one had Canard's name written on it. The chain was long and it hung down to 6 year old boy's stomach.

Naruto looked up at Canard with surprised, yet confused eyes: "Is this…chain for me?"

Canard nodded his head at Naruto: "Always keep it with you wherever you go little bro. So that way you and I will always stay connected with each other no matter how far apart we are."

A large smile spread out across Naruto's face before he jumped on Canard and flung his arms around the 8 year old duck's neck. Canard was surprise by this action for a moment as he only looked down at the fox/boy with wide eyes, but his surprise suddenly grew at what Naruto said next.

"Thanks Canard, you're the best big brother a guy could ever have!" exclaimed Naruto in happiness.

Canard stared down at his adopted brother in shock before a smile appeared on his beak once again as he gently wrapped his arms around Naruto's smaller body. In that instant a warm feeling began to spread out within Canard's chest as he held the young boy in his arms.

"You're welcome little bro," whispered Canard to the 6 year old.

13 years later

Naruto raised his hockey stick up in the air before he swung it downwards as the flat end slammed into the puck that sat on the ice. The puck was sent flying towards the make shift net that was set up in front of him, but the puck was quickly deflected by the goalie that stood within the net.

"Rats!" growled Naruto in an older voice as he snapped his fingers in frustration.

13 years had passed for Naruto ever since he arrived on Puckworld when he was 6 years old now the young fox/boy had grown up into a young 18 year old teenage adult. Over the years Naruto had grown use to Puckworld's cold atmosphere and now he barely feels the frost bite on his face or arms whenever he ventures outside to play hockey. Naruto also grew accustomed to Puckworld's life style as well for he soon became one of the best hockey players on the planet, next only to his brother, Canard.

Naruto had changed over the years. His once spiky golden hair had grown a little longer and a little tamer as it grew halfway down to his shoulders. Naruto also became a lot braver and more confident within himself. He was also independent as he developed his own skills within hockey. Naruto had a light muscle toned body and was now 5 feet tall, he was near the same height as Nosedive while almost reaching up past his brother's shoulders.

Naruto was wearing a light blue shirt with short sleeves while a black streak ran across his chest, a black hooded vest, dark brown pants and black skates.

Canard and Wildwing were 20 years old while Nosedive was 17 years old and was and still is Naruto's best friend in the whole world ever since they were little kids. (Everyone already knows what Canard, Wildwing and Nosedive look like in the first episode of Mighty Ducks, so I won't bother with the details.)

"Nice try Naruto," complemented Wildwing from the make shift net. "You almost got it past me that time."

"Thanks Wildwing," said Naruto with a smile before he traded places with Canard.

Naruto and Canard had become a lot closer over the years that they became almost inseparable, except on a few occasions when they wanted to hang out with someone else for a while. But they would always hang out with the Flashblade brothers from time to time. Naruto and Canard would share secrets or practice hockey moves with each other whenever they had free time for Canard had become one of Puckworld's best military generals after being trained by Mr. Thunderbeak himself and Canard was always busy with his work.

Canard gently clapped his hand on Naruto's shoulder while giving him an encouraging smile: "You'll get the puck past him eventually bro."

Naruto smiled back at Canard and nodded his head in agreement before he skated over to Nosedive.

"Man, you almost scored that time Naruto," voiced the young drake to his childhood friend.

"Don't worry Dive," reassured Naruto with a wink. "I'll get a puck pass Wildwing one of these days, you just wait and see."

"Hey, that reminds me," started Nosedive with a snap of his fingers. "I just finished researching the legend of Drake DuCaine and he totally ruled Naruto."

"How so?" questioned Naruto as his fox ears perked up in interest while his tail started to wag in excitement.

"Okay, listen," began Nosedive as he started to skate across the ice around Canard and Wildwing while the older drakes focused on their hockey practice. "Canard already told you about the Saurian overlords, right?"

"Yeah," replied Naruto with a nod before giving a quick glance at his brother while Canard shot a puck at Wildwing, who blocked it, before firing off another one.

"And did he also tell you of how the Saurian overlords took over the planet?" continued Nosedive as he skated around Naruto. "It's was game over for the whole universe man and nobody could find them, because they had these evil magic powers."

Naruto nodded his head for the 17 year old to continue as he leaned on his hockey stick. Naruto had always been fascinated with the legends of Drake DuCaine and would sometimes read them whenever he was bored. Naruto never got tired of hearing the stories of Drake DuCaine for something about the legend of the mighty duck made him feel like he was a part of the action himself.

"Then Drake DuCaine made this mask, a goalie mask, which he used to see through their invisible shields," added Nosedive as he skated behind his brother and stole Wildwing's mask while the white mallard glared after his brother in annoyance.

Canard watched as Nosedive skated passed him with a smirk of amusement while the younger drake stopped to stand beside Naruto before putting on Wildwing's goalie mask.

"So he tracks down the evil Saurians with the mask, right?" exclaimed Nosedive as he began to get more excited about the story he was telling. "He then kicks their scaly tails clear into another dimension and the crowed goes WILD!"

At the 'wild' part, Nosedive jumped into the air with his hockey stick held high above his head, but he suddenly slipped on the ice and fell flat down on his back with the goalie mask flying off his face. Naruto chuckled as he skated over to his fallen friend.

"Make sure you watch that last step next time Dive," warned Naruto in good humor as he held a hand out to help Nosedive up.

The two adults smiled at their brothers before Canard turned to Wildwing who stood beside him while placing a hand on his friend's shoulder: "Man Wildwing, I couldn't get a single puck past you today."

"You want a real hero Nosedive?" said Wildwing as he turned his attention on to his brother and Naruto before looking back at his childhood friend. "Well check out Canard, he's the best student in school and nobody beats him on the ice. He's a real team captain."

"Yeah, even though he can be a bit bossy sometimes," added Naruto in a joking matter before he tried to pull Nosedive up off the ice, but soon winded up slipping and falling down onto his stomach with Nosedive falling on top of him.

Canard and Wildwing burst out laughing at their brother's predicament as Naruto and Nosedive quickly untangled themselves from each other before they sat down on the surface of the ice while glaring up at their older brothers.

"Not funny you guys," muttered Nosedive crossly.

"Well it is funny when you two jokers make fools out of yourselves," laughed Wildwing as he looked down at both Naruto and Nosedive in amusement.

"I bet DuCaine didn't have any older siblings laughing at him when he did something embarrassing," grumbled Naruto as he stood up and began dusting the snow off of his shoulders.

"He probably did squirt," replied Canard as he came up to Naruto and dusted some snow off from the boy's fox ears and head.

"And besides, I've heard all the stories of Drake DuCaine's mask Dive," spoke Wildwing as he looked down at his younger brother. "They're just legends."

"Legends?" repeated Nosedive in disbelief as he stood up from the ice before he began to dust the snow off of his shoulders and arms. "Wake up and smell yourself man, Drake DuCaine was one of the greatest ducks who'd ever quacked, flat out!"

"Relax baby brother," eased Wildwing as he placed his right hand on top Nosedive's shoulder. "The Saurian Empire vanished centuries ago."

"Yeah," spoke Naruto as the foursome began to skate back to their respective homes. "And besides, even if one of those creeps did show up, I'll kick their scaly tails to the next planet that's even colder than Puckworld, believe it!"

"Be careful on what you wish for Naruto," warned Canard to his adopted brother. "For you might just get it one day."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at his brother before Canard playfully ruffled the blonde boy's head.

"So how are you and your family doing Naruto?" asked Wildwing suddenly.

"Not so good," replied Naruto solemnly. "Mom's been sick for weeks now, and Mr. Thunderbeak is never really home all that much these days."

"Sorry," voiced Wildwing apologetically as he looked at the 18 year old sadly.

"It's okay, you didn't know," reassured Naruto with a small smile.

"Hey, I just have a question that's been bugging me for a while," stepped in Nosedive as he skated up beside Naruto. "You've been living with the Thunderbeak family for 13 years now and not once did we ever hear you call Mr. Thunderbeak 'Dad', why is that man?"

"Naruto isn't really that close with our father," answered Canard. "It's because he's too stubborn to talk to him."

"It's not that I don't want to talk to him Canard," argued Naruto as he looked up at his older brother. "It's just that…I don't know; it's just so hard to get near Mr. Thunderbeak. He has this powerful aura around him and it kind of makes me feel uneasy whenever I'm close to him sometimes."

"Well he is in the army Naruto," reasoned Canard as he reminded his adopted brother about their father. "Dad has never been that easy to impress, but just give it some time and who knows, maybe he'll warm up to you someday."

"Maybe," voiced Naruto before he decided to change the subject. "We should probably head over to the drug store and pick up mother's medicine Canard."

"You're right," responded Canard as he, Naruto and the Flashblade brothers stopped near a corner. "We'd better hurry before the store closes for today."

Naruto nodded his head in agreement before he turned to look at Wildwing and Nosedive: "We'll meet up with you guys tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure thing champ," answered Wildwing as he rested a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I hope your mother gets better soon."

"Thanks, I hope so too," said Naruto before he clasped hands with Nosedive as they gave each other a firm handshake.

"Stay frosty buddy," voiced Nosedive.

"You too Dive," added Naruto before he and his childhood friend let go of each other's hand.

The foursome soon divided up into duos as Canard and Naruto took a right turn that will lead them to the drug store while Wildwing and Nosedive headed straight towards their home. Canard and Naruto skated beside each other in silence for a while before the older drake finally spoke.

"Naruto, what do you think of Wildwing and Nosedive?"

Naruto let out an exasperated sigh as he and Canard stopped to talk: "Bro, we've been over this a thousand times. Nosedive is my best friend just like Wildwing is your best friend, right?"

"Yeah," answered Canard with a shrug.

"So what's the problem with me hanging out with Dive?" questioned Naruto crossly.

"I just think that Nosedive is a bad influence on you," stated Canard calmly.

"Or it could be that you're jealous of him," teased Naruto with a smirk.

"I am not jealous!" protested Canard in anger. "Why would I be jealous of Wildwing's kid brother?"

Naruto only smiled at Canard before he reached into the collar of his shirt and pulled out a familiar chain that held the two military dog tags that bared Canard's name and his name.

Canard blinked in surprise: "Naruto…you're still wearing that chain after all these years?"

"Yeah," replied Naruto as he let the chain fall/hang over his chest. "I've never taken it off because it was a special gift that you had given me when I was 6 years old. It lets me know that I have an older brother that really cares about me and that I can always have him close to my heart whenever he's not around or beside me. Canard…no matter what happens; you'll always be my brother."

Canard stared at Naruto for a moment before a smile spread out on his beak. The older drake had always known the young fox/boy for keep his promises no matter how silly they were. The 20 year old wrapped his right arm around his younger brother's shoulders as the two of them skated off towards their destination. What the two didn't know was that their home planet was about to get some unlikely visitors that weren't very friendly and were thought to have vanished over a thousand years ago.

To be continued

I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review and tell me what you think of it. White Hunter, howling out to you and the spirits!


	2. Chapter 2

The Fox of Konoha

I do not own Naruto or Mighty Ducks, only the characters that I created within the story.

The Invasion, the thief and the transformation

Canard and Naruto had just finished shopping for their mother's medicine and were now skating back home while joking around with each other along the way. Naruto playfully shoulder tackled into his brother before Canard quickly caught the 18 year old in a headlock and started to ruffle his hair. But their fun and game was suddenly interrupted by Canard's cell-phone going off. Canard released Naruto from the headlock before he dug into the left pocket of his vest and pulled out his cell-phone as he answered the person on the other side of the line.

"Canard here…yes…what, are you sure? ...alright I'll be over there as soon as I can."

"Who was that?" asked Naruto after Canard turned off his cell-phone.

"That was dad little bro," answered Canard as he turned to look at Naruto before he pocketed his cell-phone again. "He wants me to come over to the military base at once, something's come up."

"What is it?" questioned Naruto as he began to feel his stomach tighten inside of him.

"Naruto," started Canard as he gently grabbed the 18 year old by the shoulders. "Remember when Wildwing said that the Saurian Empire had vanished a century ago?"

Naruto slowly nodded his head at the older drake as Canard let go of his shoulders.

"Well…it seems like they're back and that means we have to prepare. So, little bro…I'm leaving our mother in your hands."

"WHAT!" exclaimed Naruto as his ears stood straight up on his head while his tail frizzed up behind him.

"Naruto, listen," said Canard as he tried to reason with his brother. "Mother is sick and I don't want to leave her alone. So I need you to look after her in case any trouble comes up. Promise me that you'll protect her while I'm away, alright?"

Naruto bit his bottom lip nervously when Canard asked him to look after their mother and wasn't sure that he could do it, but he knew that Canard was counting on him to protect their mother no matter what. Naruto soon sucked in a deep breath as he squared his shoulders before he stared up into his brother's eyes.

"I'll protect her with my life," vowed Naruto in determination.

Canard nodded his head at his little brother: "I'm counting on you."

With that, the two brothers went their separate ways with Naruto taking his mother's medicine back home with him. The 18 year old made it back in record time as he quickly unlaced his skates before pulling them off his feet. He quickly ran into the house after placing his skates on the steps of the porch. He soon switched to a walk as he made is way towards the family room and found his mother lying on the couch.

Mrs. Thunderbeak's face was pale and her breath was raspy as she slept on the couch. Naruto slowly walked into the family room as he stared down at the sleeping form of his adopted mother before he knelt down beside the couch.

"Mom, are you awake?" asked Naruto gently as he placed his hand over top of Mrs. Thunderbeak's hand.

Naruto's mother responded with a small moan before she slowly opened her eyes and smiled when she saw her youngest son kneeling over her.

"Hi honey," greeted Mrs. Thunderbeak in a tired voice.

"Hi," greeted Naruto with a smile before he held up the bag that contained his mother's medicine. "Canard and I got your medication pills."

"Oh, thank you darling," voiced Mrs. Thunderbeak with a smile before it was replaced by a frown, "Where is your brother anyway?"

"Mr. Thunderbeak had to call Canard in for work," replied Naruto. "So, Canard told me to watch over you until he comes back from the military base."

Mrs. Thunderbeak let out a tired laugh: "That's a big responsibility to place on a little brother's shoulders."

"I think I can handle it," reassured Naruto before he got up. "I'll go get you a mug of water to help you swallow down these pills."

"Thank you, honey," voiced Mrs. Thunderbeak as she watched her son walk out of the family room and into the kitchen.

Naruto walked over to the kitchen counter as he pulled out a small blue capsule that held small white pills inside of it from out of the bag. Naruto gently ripped off the plastic that encircled the top lid of the capsule before he twisted the cap off. Naruto kept thinking about what his brother had said to him before the two of them separated from each other. Were the Saurains really coming back to invade Puckworld again?

Naruto pulled out a mug from the kitchen cabinet before he turned on the tap. The 18 year old brought the mug underneath the running tap water before turning off the water when the mug was filled half way to the brim. Naruto set the mug down on the counter before picking up the capsule and tipped it towards the palm of his right hand. Two pills tumbled out onto the boy's hand before he placed the pills down on the counter. The 18 year old then picked up the cap and twisted in back onto the capsule. Naruto was about to place the container on the counter before he thought better of it.

'_If the Saurians are coming back then I have to be prepared,_' thought Naruto.

He quickly placed the capsule into the right pocket of his vest before zipping it up so that the capsule wouldn't fall out.

Naruto picked up the water filled mug and pills before he made his way back to the family room. Naruto helped his mother sit up on the couch before handing her the pills and mug of water. Mrs. Thunderbeak popped the pills into her mouth before she slowly drank the water from the mug to help the pills go down her throat. She soon lowered the mug from her beak with a sigh.

"Thank you dear," voiced Mrs. Thunderbeak as Naruto took her mug.

"You're welcome mom," said Naruto before he helped his mother lay back down on the couch. "Now get some sleep. I'll be back to check on you later."

Mrs. Thunderbeak smiled at her son before she closed her eyes and went to sleep again. Naruto looked down at his mother for a moment before he stood up from the couch.

"I'd better get packing," muttered Naruto as he quietly walked out of the room.

Outer space

All was quiet within the depths of space as the stars sparkled against the darkness, but all was not peaceful as people expected it to be. In a spaceship a large lizard, a Saurian, was at the controls as he stared up at the large screen in front of him before he turned to a figure that was hidden within the shadows.

"We're in range of Puckworld, Lord Dragaunus," informed the club tailed Saurian.

Two yellow/red eyes glowed within the darkness before the being spoke: "Prepare to de-cloak…Now!"

A thousand warships appeared from out darkness of space at the leader's command before they shot towards Puckworld. Inside the lead warship, the Raptor, the leader whose name is Dragaunus, stepped out of the shadows. (WH: Everyone already knows what Dragaunus and his goons look like so I won't bother with the details).

"After untold centuries I, Dragaunus, last of the Saurian Overlords, have escaped the Dimensional Limbo from which my ancestors were imprisoned," growled the Saurian Overlord as he came up towards the monitor to look at the Puckworldians who were skating around on the ice of the city's rink. "Now the descendants of Drake DuCaine shall pay for what he did to my ancestors."

The club tail, Siege, laughed before he turned to a little green lizard that came to stand beside him.

"Did you ever have duck before, Chameleon?" asked Siege.

The lizard, Chameleon, transformed in to Hamlet as he held a duck skull within his hands: "I Siege, you ask whether I have partaken in a duck feast?"

He then switched to Groucho Marx while he shook his finger as if he was holding a cigar: "Well now that you mentioned it, no."

"I hear it tastes like chicken," stated Siege as Chameleon changed back to his formal self.

Just then a cloud of smoke appeared behind the duo as Chameleon let out a yelp of surprise.

"Don't do that!" exclaimed Chameleon as he and Siege watched the smoke rise higher above them.

The smoke soon took on the form of an old Saurian call Wraith, the dark wizard of the group.

"This is a mistake Lord Dragaunus," warned the old Saurian as he walked up to the Saurian Overlord. "If we do not use the dark powers of our ancestors then I predict a dismal out come."

"This conversation is closed, Wraith!" shouted Dragaunus angrily. "Technology freed us from that Dimensional Limbo with my new gateway generator and technology will crush, Puckworld, flat!"

In the shadows of the Raptor stood a figure that was leaning up against the walls of the warship while his dark brown eyes glared at the monitor screen as he watched the people of Puckworld move across the screen.

The figure scoffed: "Those ducks are supposed to be a threat to us? How pathetic. I'll be able to crush them easily without having to use the full extension of my power."

"Be patient my student," said Dragaunus as he turned to the figure hiding in the shadows. "For very soon you will show those who stand in our way just how powerful you really are."

The figure smirked at what Dragaunus had just said. He had been waiting all his life to finally satisfy his thirst for blood.

Back on Puckworld

Naruto had just finished packing the supplies that he and his mother would need to survive the invasion. Naruto was in the storage room as he packed a second water filled canteen into his military shoulder bag that Canard had given to him on his 17th birthday last year.

"Okay, I think that's everything," muttered Naruto as he did one last final check of the things that he had packed. "I've got enough food to last us for a couple of weeks, two water filled canteens, a first aid kit, clothing, blankets and my mother's medicine is in the second front pocket of my military bag. Boy I sure am glad that Canard gave me this bag."

Naruto slowly grew distant as he thought about his older brother and wondered if he was okay along with his adopted father.

'_I'm sure they're fine,_' thought Naruto firmly. '_Canard has been trained by our father after all so he'll be okay._'

Naruto suddenly blinked in surprise when he heard himself call Mr. Thunderbeak 'father'.

A sad smile formed on Naruto's face: '_If only I could call him that in real life._'

The 18 year old closed the flap of his military bag before he walked out of storage room and made his way up the stairs before turning towards the family room. Naruto soon saw his mother sitting straight up on the couch while staring at him with a knowing look on her face. Naruto sucked in a breath before letting it out a deep sigh. Mrs. Thunderbeak knew both him and Canard better than anyone so if there was ever a problem then she would be the first one to know about it. The 18 year old slowly walked over to his mother as he came to stand in front of her before kneeling down on floor.

"Naruto, something has been bothering you ever since you came back home," started Mrs. Thunderbeak as she looked down at the kneeling form of her son. "What's wrong?"

"Mom," began Naruto with a sigh. "I don't want to alarm you or anything, but…Canard got a phone call from Mr. Thunderbeak. He said that Mr. Thunderbeak and the military have detected something in space. They think that it might be Saurian Overlords' warships."

Mrs. Thunderbeak's eyes widened in shock: "Are you sure Naruto?"

"I don't know," replied Naruto truthfully. "But what I do know is that we have to be ready for anything that might come at us from out of the blue. And our best choice of action is to leave our home for a while. I know it's not going to be easy mom, but I promise that no matter what we'll come back to it someday."

"Naruto," began Mrs. Thunderbeak as she took Naruto's hands into her own. "If the Saurian Overlords are coming back then there won't be a home for us to return to, but you're right about one thing. We have to leave while there is still time."

Naruto nodded his head in agreement before he stood up while helping his mother to stand up on her feet: "Then we'd better get going. I've already packed the supplies that we need so we're set."

Mrs. Thunderbeak weakly nodded as she leaned on her son for support. Naruto led his mother towards the front door of the house while grabbing her jacket along the way. Naruto gently lowered his mother to the floor once they had made it to the front door before giving Mrs. Thunderbeak her coat. The 18 year old quickly grabbed Mrs. Thunderbeak's shoes before he slipped on his runners.

"Here mom," said Naruto as he handed Mrs. Thunderbeak her shoes.

The 18 year old quickly tied up the laces on his red/white runners before waiting for his mother to finish putting her shoes on. Naruto helped his mother up once the female mallard finished slipping on her second shoe and began leading her towards the front door. Naruto opened the door before he led his mother down the porch steps.

"That's it, just one step at a time," encouraged Naruto to his mother before they finally made it down the last step.

Naruto quickly knelt down with his back turned to his mother: "Okay, hop on. We'll be able to move faster if I'm carrying you on my back."

Mrs. Thunderbeak only nodded her head for she was too weak to argue with her son. She slowly wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck before the 18 year old wrapped his arms around her legs. He slowly stood up from the ground before he turned to look at his mother for a moment then turned his gaze forward and quickly broke out into a run. Naruto became a blur as he ducked in and out of alleys before stopping in one to catch his bearings. Naruto suddenly heard light breathing and turned to look over his shoulder to see that his mother had fallen asleep on his back.

'_I guess she's still tired,_' thought Naruto with a smile.

The 18 year old turned to look in front of him before he started forward again, but quickly stopped when he sensed a change within the air that flowed around him. Naruto turned his eyes up towards the sky and saw dark grey clouds forming above the city.

'_This…is not good,_' thought Naruto before he took off again.

Lasers were heard as the enemy ships appeared over Ice City. The people of Puckworld were running and screaming in fear as the warships descended upon the city. The warships transformed into large robotic dinosaurs after they had landed and began to stomped or tear down anything that got in their way.

Naruto quickly dodged around the civilians of Puckworld before entering an abandoned alley that leads to an old warehouse that Canard had shown him when he was 7 years old. Canard had told Naruto that he should never go into the warehouse without him or Wildwing, but the 18 year old knew that he didn't have a choice for it was the only hiding spot that the boy could think of. Naruto stopped near the entrance of the alley and took a quick glance around before he ran towards the warehouse. He quickly ducked inside through an opened door that had been left opened by mistake. Naruto came to a stop within the middle of the warehouse as he tried to catch his breath. He kept really quiet while he listened for the loud footsteps from one of the metal giants that were stomping around the city right now. The 18 year old waited for about 10 minutes before letting out a sigh of relief.

"Good, those monsters haven't spotted us," muttered Naruto as he started to walk towards a few old crates that were stacked up near the corner of the warehouse.

Slowly, Naruto set his mother gently down on the ground while placing his military bag underneath her head.

"Don't worry mom," whispered Naruto as he sat down on the cold ground while he stared down at the female duck that had raised him since he was 6 years old. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you…I promise."

Mrs. Thunderbeak's chest rose and fell as she breathed lightly within her sleep. Naruto gently stroked his mother's cheek with the back of his fingers, but he quickly drew his hand back when he suddenly sensed another presence within the warehouse and he began to tense. The 18 year old quickly stood up from the ground and began to slowly scan his surroundings while his ears twitched at the slightest sound that was made within the building. Naruto quickly caught the sound of an empty can rolling across the concrete ground as his tail started to frizz up while it lashed around wildly behind him.

"Who's there!" growled Naruto as he bared his teeth while his K9s gleamed within the dim light of the building.

The 18 year old stood close to his mother while he waited for the intruder to show himself. Naruto quickly sensed that someone was behind him before she spun around to see who it was. Standing behind him was a dark grey feathered drake that looked to be around 27 years old.

The duck was wearing a maroon thief suit with dark grey boots on his feet. On the duck's left shoulder was a golden hilt that Naruto knew very well as a ducksaber for his brother would always train with one whenever he was at the military training facility. Canard would sometimes bring his practice saber home with him to show off in front of Naruto once in a while. The duck had a long bang of hair with a white streak going through it and on the end of the left side of the drake's beak was a nick which must have been made by another saber.

Naruto growled as he glared at the stranger in front of him: "Who are you? How'd you get in here?"

"Hey, this is a free town kid!" exclaimed the duck in a Brooklyn voice as he glared back at Naruto with his dark brown eyes. "I can do whatever I please and that's entering buildin's."

Naruto's eyes narrowed: "Well I don't take kindly to thieves who come around and try to steal from me or my family members. So if you came here looking for trouble then you're going to have to go through me first."

"Listen I'm not looking for trouble 'ere kid," the thief said defensively. "Just hand over your belongings and nobody will get hurt."

"Sorry pal but I'm not giving you anything, especially my mother's medicine!" growled Naruto as he got ready to lung at the thief in front of him.

The thief blinked as he stared at the boy in front of him before he turned to look down at the sleeping form of Mrs. Thunderbeak. He quickly noticed the shallow breathing and the pale face of a female duck before him. The drake let out a sigh as his eyes softened in pity.

The thief looked back at Naruto as he asked the 18 year old a question: "How long has she been sick like this kid?"

"My mother's been sick for 2 weeks now," answered Naruto as he looked at the thief in surprise but made sure not to lose his guard. "And she's been getting worse ever since."

"Well isn't that sad," spoke a British voice from behind Naruto.

The 18 year old quickly turned around to face the person behind him before he was suddenly stabbed in the left shoulder by a silver bladed saber. Naruto cried out as he held his shoulder in pain before he glared at the person that had stabbed him.

Standing in front of Naruto was a golden/brown feathered falcon who was wearing a cape, a metal chest plate with a crest on it, black pants, golden vambraces, a red belt around his waist and black boots. In the falcon's hands was a saber with blue electricity crackling around its blade. Naruto gritted his teeth as he fell down onto his right knee.

"Falcone, what are you doing!" shouted the duck at the falcon in anger.

"Doing something that you are too weak to do, Duke," the falcon, Falcone, replied with a sneer. "Now stand back and let me do my thing."

"Falcone, this is not how we do things within the Brotherhood of the Blades!" exclaimed the duck, Duke, as he tried to reason with the falcon.

"Then I think it's time for a few things to change," said Falcone with a smirk.

"Yeah, just like everything else in this city," spoke Naruto in sarcasm as he glared up at his attacker. "I can't believe how blind you two are. Puckworld is being invaded and all you two can think about is stealing from other people who are weak and on their last leg by attacking them. That's just like a coward."

"You seem to have a sharp tongue there young man," sneered Falcone as he glared into the 18 year old boy's blue eyes that pierced straight into the thief's soul. "Maybe I should just cut it out so as to save everyone the trouble of hearing your pathetic voice all the time."

"Back off Falcone!" shouted Duke as he grabbed the hilt of his saber from his shoulder as he activated it before slashing it down on Falcone's sword.

The drake quickly stood in front of Naruto as he protected the 18 year old from Falcone.

"Get out of my way Duke!" snarled Falcone.

"No, I'm not letting you near this boy or his mother!" blasted Duke as he held his saber out in front of him.

"Then I'll just have to kill you before I take whatever booty this boy has on him!" snarled Falcone before he lunged towards Duke with his saber.

The falcon and duck soon got into a sword fight as they tried to overpower each other. Naruto knelt close to his mother while he watched from the sidelines as the mallard and falcon fought with one another. The 18 year old was confused, why was this drake protecting him and his mother? Naruto watched the two birds fight as he held his wounded shoulder while he stood protectively beside his mother.

Sparks flew within the air as the two sabers clashed against each other as their owners blocked their attacker's blows. The fight continued on for about an hour before Falcone's saber found an opening. In one swift movement Falcone slashed his saber down on Duke's right eye. Duke cried out in pain as he stumbled back with his right hand shooting up to cover his eye as blood ran down the side of the mallard's face.

Naruto's eyes widened at what he witnessed and that was when something snapped inside of him. Even though the boy didn't know anything about this stranger he still owed this drake a favor. Naruto quickly leapt to his feet and ran towards Falcone while ignoring the pain that shot up from his shoulder. The falcon was caught off guard as he was suddenly tackled to the floor with Naruto pinning him to the ground while knocking the saber out of the thief's hand.

"Get off of me you mangy brat!" blasted Falcone as he struggled against Naruto's powerful grip on him.

Naruto and Falcone were soon rolling around on the ground as one of them tried to get the upper hand within the fight. They kept rolling around on the ground for about 9 minutes until Falcone finally pushed Naruto off of him by kicking the 18 year old into a stack of crates. Naruto shook his head to clear it before he found himself staring at a laser gun that was pointed straight at his face with Falcone towering over him.

"This is the end of the line for you boy." Falcone sneered as he glared down at Naruto. "Any last words before you die?"

Naruto only glared up at the thief before he opened his mouth to reply: "Go eat a worm, pigeon."

That was the last straw for Falcone as he began to pull the trigger of his gun. Naruto waited for his life to end as one thought entered his mind.

'_I'm sorry Canard…I wasn't able to keep my promise._'

Falcone was about to pull the trigger when someone suddenly slammed into him. Naruto's eyes widened in shock when he saw who it was that had knocked Falcone away from him before they fell to the ground.

"Mom!" shouted Naruto as he quickly ran over to his mother's side.

Mrs. Thunderbeak had been awakened from her slumber when she suddenly heard the commotion and saw her son fighting Falcone. After her son had gotten kicked into a stack of crates she quickly jumped into action and shoulder tackled Falcone before he could pull the trigger of his gun.

Naruto quickly knelt down to help his mother sit up: "Are you alright?"

"Yes…I'm fine," replied Mrs. Thunderbeak weakly.

Falcone slowly picked himself up off the ground before glaring over at Naruto and his mother.

"You'll pay for that you wench!" shouted Falcone as he raised his gun up again and fired a laser at the two of them.

Naruto saw this coming and quickly shield his mother as he prepared himself to take the shot, but someone else took the hit for him. A cry of pain pierced Naruto's fox ears as the 18 year old quickly looked over his shoulder and his eyes grew wide in shock. Standing in front of Naruto was Duke with his chest facing the fox/boy while his back took the full force of the laser.

"NO!" shouted Naruto before he quickly caught the thief as the dark grey duck fell onto his knees.

Naruto got the chance to have a good look at Duke's right eye. The thief's right eye had a deep slash going down it and his left shoulder had a large laser burn that had ripped right through the drake's suit.

Duke let out a groan before he slowly opened his left eye to look at Naruto: "Y-you okay kid?"

Naruto could only stare at Duke before he finally spoke: "W-why…why did you do it?"

"Just wanted to return the favor," replied Duke before he fell into unconsciousness.

Naruto stared at Duke in shock before he felt white hot anger explode within his veins. The 18 year old gently laid the thief down on the ground before he stood up with his hands clenched into fists.

"You're going to pay for that," growled Naruto softly as he glared at Falcone.

"And what are you going to do about it boy?" mocked Falcone with a smirk as he pointed his laser gun at the 18 year old.

Naruto only narrowed his eyes at the falcon before he shot towards the thief in a fit of rage.

"NARUTO!" screamed Mrs. Thunderbeak in dismay.

Falcone smirked as he got ready to shoot Naruto, but was quickly taken off guard when Naruto's body started to glow in a golden aura. The light around Naruto grew brighter as it blinded Falcone to the point where he couldn't see.

"What's going on here?" cried out Falcone as he raised his free arm to protect his eyes from the intense light.

The light slowly dwindled in front of the thief before a sharp pain shot up in the falcon's left arm that held the gun. Falcone cried out in pain before he looked down to see what had grabbed onto his arm and his eyes grew wide in shock.

Biting down on Falcone's arm was a large golden furred fox that was the size of an Irish wolfhound. The fox had blue eyes that glared coldly into Falcone's eyes as its teeth bit down hard on the falcon's arm. The fox had a long golden tail with a black tip at the end. Its paws black along with the tip of its ears and its eyes that were rimed with a black outlining. And lastly, the fox had a white muzzle, chest and stomach.

The fox was standing on its hind legs with its front paws gripping onto Falcone's arm as the fox's fangs sunk deep into the flesh that was hidden underneath the bird's feathers.

"Let go of me you mangy beast!" shouted Falcone as he raised his right fist to punch the fox.

The fox saw the attack coming and quickly let go before it quickly ran behind some crates while barely dodging a shot from the laser. Falcone growled before he began to chase after the fox.

"You're going to pay for that you mangy mutt," snarled Falcone as he began to search for the fox that was hidden somewhere within the warehouse.

Behind one of the top crates hid the golden fox as it crouched low within the shadows while it waited for Falcone to step into its line of vision. Time seemed to slow down as Falcone stepped into sight and that was when the fox struck.

The fox leapt out from its hiding spot and tackled Falcone to the ground with the gun being knocked out of the thief's hand. The fox quickly jumped off the bird's back and landed where the gun lay. The fox snatched the gun up in its jaws before snapping the weapon in half.

"My gun!" cried out Falcone in shock before he glared at the golden fox. "You're going to pay for that you mutt!"

The fox growled as it glared at Falcone before it jumped behind some crates while the thief shot up from the ground and began to give chase, but the falcon was quickly taken back when he suddenly felt something bite down on his butt. The thief cried out in pain as he jumped ten feet into the air. Falcone landed back down on the ground as he turned to see the golden fox sitting on the floor with a smirk on its muzzled as its tail wagged lazily behind it. Hanging from the fox's mouth was a piece of black fabric. Falcone didn't need to guess where that fabric came from as he quickly covered his rear end with his hands before he glared at the fox in front of him.

"Why you little…" started Falcone in anger before a voice suddenly chirped from out of nowhere.

"_**Nice underwear pigeon boy, did your mother buy them for you?**_"

"Who said that!" shouted Falcone as he began to look around for the source of the voice.

But the warehouse was silent with the occasional stomping of the giant saurian robots that were lurking outside the building. Falcone growled before he turned to glare back at the fox again.

"Mark my words beast, you and that boy, wherever he might be, will pay for what you did to me today."

With that, Falcone disappeared into the shadows of the warehouse. The fox snorted before spitting out the cloth in disgust.

Back with Naruto's mother, Mrs. Thunderbeak was wrapping a bandage around Duke's right eye. The drake had regained his consciousness a few moments ago and was now sitting on the ground while trying to keep still as the female duck tended to his wounds. His laser burn had already been wrapped by Mrs. Thunderbeak and now she had moved to patching up his eye.

"There, that should hold until you can get proper treatment," said Mrs. Thunderbeak after she finished tying the bandage around the drake's head.

"Thank you," said Duke as he turned to look at Mrs. Thunderbeak with his good eye.

"It's the least I could do after what you did for me and my son."

"Speaking of the kid, where is he?"

Mrs. Thunderbeak was about to reply when the sound of claws clicking against the concrete ground interrupted the female mallard before they stopped. The two ducks turned their heads towards the source of the sound and saw the golden fox standing in front of them. The fox had its ears laid back on its head with its tail hanging low towards the ground as it stared at Duke and Mrs. Thunderbeak. The fox and two ducks stared at each other for a moment before Mrs. Thunderbeak noticed something hanging around the fox's neck.

Slowly, Mrs. Thunderbeak held out her right hand towards the fox: "Come here young one, it's alright."

The fox looked at the female duck for a moment before it slowly started to walk towards Mrs. Thunderbeak. The fox came within reach of Mrs. Thunderbeak's hand as the female duck began to stroke its head. The fox let out a whine as it nuzzled against Mrs. Thunderbeak's touch while the female mallard looked at the object that encircled the fox's neck.

Around the fox's neck was a metal chain with two dog-tags that had the names of Canard and Naruto written on surface of them. The only one that Mrs. Thunderbeak knew who would wear this chain was her son and that was when realization dawned on the female duck.

"N-Naruto, is that you?" asked Mrs. Thunderbeak as she gently held the fox's head in her hands.

The fox stared at Mrs. Thunderbeak for a moment before it sadly nodded its head at the female duck. The fox, Naruto, was taken off guard when his mother suddenly threw her arms around his neck and started to cry into his golden fur.

"Thank Drake that you're alright," whispered Mrs. Thunderbeak as she ran her hands through her son's fur.

Naruto looked at his mother for a moment before he laid his head down on the female duck's shoulder to comfort her. Naruto and Mrs. Thunderbeak basked in each other's embrace for a moment before Naruto's body began to glow again. Duke watched in amazement as the fox changed back into the same boy that had helped him when Falcone slashed his saber down across his right eye.

Naruto was still wearing the same cloths he had on before he transformed into a fox, but the wound that had once been on the boy's shoulder was completely gone. Naruto slowly wrapped his arms around his mother as he gently rubbed his right hand up and down Mrs. Thunderbeak's back.

"Don't cry mother," soothed Naruto as he began to stroke his mother's hair with his left hand. "Please don't cry."

Mrs. Thunderbeak slowly pulled away as she now stared into the familiar face of her son while cupping his cheek with her left hand.

"Are you alright?" asked Mrs. Thunderbeak in worry. "How did you change into that…that creature?"

"I…I don't know," answered Naruto as he scratched the back of his head. "All I remember was getting angry and after that, I found myself fighting that pigeon-head while tearing off the back of his pants."

Duke started to laugh at what Naruto had just said: "Man kid, I gotta hand it to ya. You might be the only one, besides me, to have stand up to Falcone and insult him by calling him a pigeon."

Naruto turned and smiled at Duke: "Well that guy was nothing but a push over, but calling that falcon a pigeon might be too good for him. I think he's more of a chicken than a pigeon."

The two adults started to laugh before Mrs. Thunderbeak began to cough. It was Naruto's turn to worry as he placed a hand on his mother's shoulder.

"Mom, are you okay?" asked Naruto in concern.

"I'm fine," reassured Mrs. Thunderbeak with a smile. "I just got too excited that's all."

Naruto was about to say something, but was interrupted when he heard the sound of heavy footsteps from one of the giant robots coming closer to the warehouse that he and his mother were hiding in. Duke placed a hand Naruto's shoulder as the 18 year old turned his eyes on the thief.

"Kid, we have to go," said the drake. "We can't say here anymore."

"Yeah I know," muttered Naruto, "But where exactly are my mother and I supposed to go? The whole city is crawling with those giant robots."

"I might know of a place where you and your mother can hide from those robots," answered the male drake. "It's not a five star hotel, but it will keep you two safe for a while."

"How far is it?" asked Naruto as he stared intently at the thief in front of him.

"Not far, only a block away from 'ere," answered Duke.

Naruto frowned at the grey duck for a moment before turning to look at his mother as he carefully began to think about his decision. Naruto didn't know much about this guy and wasn't sure that he should trust this thief, but this guy did save him and his mother's lives also the robots will find them if they stayed in this warehouse any long. Naruto steeled himself as he took a sharp intake of breath before letting out a sigh as he finally made his decision.

The 18 year old turned to look at the thief again: "Alright, I'll trust you for now, but don't try anything funny."

"Cross my heart," promised Duke as the thief made an 'X' over his chest. "And my name is Duke L'Orange by the way."

"I'm Naruto," replied the 18 year old. "Naruto Uzamaki Thunderbeak and this is my mother Jasmine Thunderbeak."

Mrs. Thunderbeak smiled at Duke as she nodded her head at him with the thief nodding his head back at her before holding his hand out towards Naruto.

"Nice to meet you two," said Duke as Naruto took the thief's hand and shook it before letting go of it. "Now, we'd better get going before those drones catch us."

Naruto nodded his head before he went to grab his military shoulder bag. He quickly placed it over his shoulders before he walked back to his mother. The 18 year old knelt down with his back turned towards him mother as he waited for her to get on. Naruto slowly stood up from the ground once he was sure that his mother was secured on his back before he quickly followed Duke out of the warehouse.

The three made quick time as they avoided the saurian drones by diving in and out of alleys before they finally came to the building that Duke led Naruto and his mother to. It was located within the old part of Ice City where people rarely come to anymore.

The building that Duke had led them to was old but still in good condition. It was a two story house with white paint peeling off from the wooden boards of the building. The windows were dirty and it was hard to see anything inside the house.

"This is uh…an interesting place Duke," said Naruto as he looked at the house in front of him.

"I told you that it wasn't a five star hotel," sung Duke with a smirk as he looked at Naruto who stood beside him.

Naruto only gave Duke a frown before he followed after the thief with his mother still on his back. The steps creaked underneath Duke's and Naruto's weight as they walked up to the porch before the thief opened the door.

The inside of the house was dusty and looked as if no one had lived in it for years. The furniture was old and out of date, but was still in good condition. Duke led Naruto into the living room where Naruto placed his mother down on the couch before he turned to look at the thief.

"Well this place doesn't look too bad," stated Naruto with a shrug. "But it could do with a bit of dusting though."

"More like a lot of dusting kid," corrected Duke with a chuckle. "This place has been abandoned for years so you don't have to worry about anybody bothering you."

"Thank you Duke, you're very kind," spoke Mrs. Thunderbeak with a weak smile.

Duke blushed underneath his feathers as he bashfully scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment before he cleared his throat.

"I'd…better get back to my gang," said Duke before he turned to leave. "The beds are on the upper floor and whatever you do…don't turn on the lights."

Naruto nodded his head before he called out to the thief.

"Duke…" The thief turned to look at the blonde and saw the 18 year old smiling at him. "Thank you."

Duke looked at Naruto for a moment before the thief smiled back at the blonde haired boy.

"You're welcome," replied Duke with a nod before he left the room.

Naruto silently stood still as he listened to the footsteps of the thief for a moment before he heard the door open then closed as it signaled that the drake had left the building. Naruto still stood in his spot as a sad look came over his face before he turned to face his mother.

"Well…looks like this will be our temporary home for a while," stated Naruto with a shrug of his shoulder.

"Yes," replied Mrs. Thunderbeak with a nod. "And it was very kind of Duke to lead us to this place."

"Yeah," muttered Naruto as he rubbed his left arm uneasily. "Even though he is a…"

"A thief," finished Mrs. Thunderbeak.

Naruto only nodded his head before he continued: "Even though he saved our lives I…I still don't know if I can trust him."

"Sometimes it's hard to trust someone on the first glance," reasoned Mrs. Thunderbeak. "But you can't judge people by their outside appearance, like for starters. Duke is a thief that could have killed us when he had the chance, but instead of killing us he decided to help us."

Naruto looked at his mother for a moment before he turned his gaze down towards the ground. Mrs. Thunderbeak let out a sigh before she began to speak again.

"Naruto, the only way you can trust someone is if you get to know them and trust what your heart tells you. It also helps if you use your head."

Naruto smiled as he looked back up at his mother before he sighed.

"Alright, if you're willing to give him a chance then I'm willing to give him a chance."

Mrs. Thunderbeak smiled before she let out a yawn: "I think it's time that we both got some rest."

Naruto nodded his head before he walked over to his military bag and opened it. He dug into his stuff for a moment until he found what he was looking for and started to gently pull it out. The item that Naruto pulled out was a dark blue blanket that he had brought along for his mother. Mrs. Thunderbeak lay down on the couch as Naruto placed the blanket over top of her before the 18 year old kiss his mother's cheek.

"Goodnight mom," whispered Naruto as he watched his mother slip into a peaceful sleep.

Naruto decided to look around the house for a bit before he went to bed. Naruto began to roam around the house as he explored the bed rooms, kitchen, bathrooms, the basement and finally the family room. When the 18 year old stepped into the family room he spotted a picture frame sitting on a coffee table. Naruto raised an eyebrow up in curiosity before he walked over to the coffee table. Naruto took hold of the picture frame as he lifted it off the table so that he got a better look at it.

The glass of the picture frame was cover over by a thick layer of dust so Naruto had to blow the dust off just to get a better look. Naruto could see two figures behind the dirty glass but it was hard to figure them out so he gently brushed his fingers over the glass frame as he dusted more dirt off of it. The picture finally became clearer to the 18 year as he saw two ducks within the picture.

The first duck that Naruto saw was a young female that looked to be around 25 years old. She had cloud grey feathers, long black hair that came down to her shoulders and dark green eyes. She was wearing a hockey jacket over a white shirt, blue jeans and white runners.

The second duck was a 15 year old male duckling with dark grey feathers, a tuff of hair falling over his forehead and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a dark red jacket with black rings circling around the upper arms and underneath the jacket was a white shirt. The duckling was also wearing blue jeans and black/red runners. In the duckling's right hand was a hockey stick.

The female duck was kneeling down beside the duckling with her left arm wrapped around the 15 year old kid's shoulders as the duckling posed with his left arm stretched out in front of him. The duckling's two fingers were spread apart from each other as they made a 'V' in a sign of victory.

Naruto looked hard at the duckling within the photo for something about this duckling looked familiar to him, but he just couldn't place where. That was when the 18 year old finally figured it out, this kid almost looked like Duke, but who was the female duck beside him? Naruto began to feel tired as the day's events started to catch up with him.

"I'll figure it out tomorrow," Naruto yawned as he gently placed the picture frame back down on the coffee table before he made his way back to the living room.

He walked towards his military bag once he entered the living room and pulled out an extra blanket for himself, which was black. The 18 year old sat in one of the chairs that stood near the couch. Naruto straightened the blanket out on his body while pulling it up to his shoulders before he settled into the chair. Naruto turned his eyes on his mother's sleeping form for a moment, he then leaned back into his chair before he slowly closed his eyes and sleep took hold of him.

Naruto's mindscape

_The sound of dripping water echoed through Naruto's ears as the 18 year old slowly opened his eyes. He saw that he was in some kind of cave with small ice crystals hanging above his head. The cave was cool with shafts of light pouring through the cracks in the roof as they touched the ice crystals which sparkled to show the seven colors of the rainbow. A small drop of water fell from one of the ice crystals before it landed in a small puddle near Naruto's right foot._

_"W-where am I?" voiced Naruto as he looked around the cavern in confusion, "How did I get here?"_

_"Not the sharpest tool in the shed is he," muttered a rough male voice from behind Naruto._

_"Give him a brake Kyu-Kun," said another voice that almost sounded like Canard's voice, but was a little deeper than his._

_"Stop calling me Kyu-Kun!" exclaimed the first voice in irritation._

_Naruto quickly turned around to see who was behind him and saw two beings standing before him. One was a human while the other was a humanoid duck._

_The human was like Naruto in a way for he had some fox features that were noticeable on his body. The human looked to be 29 years old with long red hair that was tied up in a ponytail which grew down to the middle of his back and blood red eyes that glared into Naruto's very soul. The human was wearing a red gee with black around the rims of his sleeves, a black belt tied around his waist, long black pants and black slip on shoes. Two red fox ears sat on top of the man's head while a red, black tipped, fox tail swung behind the man's rear end._

_The humanoid duck was leaning up against a stone pillar with his arms crossed over his chest. Naruto can only guess that this duck was in his 30's for he looked to be 32 years old._

_The duck had pale feathers that were almost white and dark brown eyes. His hair was almost like Wildwing's hair style. Actually…this duck almost looked exactly like Wildwing with a hint of Canard's features added into the mix._

_The duck was wearing a pure white long sleeve 'V' neck shirt with a black, white and green vest over top of it, blue jeans and black combat boots._

_Naruto was surprised to see these two beings. Where did these two come from? He didn't hear them walking up behind him when he first appeared in this cave. The 18 year old became suspicious of these two strangers._

_"Who are you two?" questioned Naruto in a demanding tone._

_"Easy kid," said the duck as he pushed himself away from the stone pillar. "We're not looking for trouble here."_

_"Speak for your-self," muttered the red head as he glared at the duck in annoyance._

_The duck gave the red head a glance before continuing: "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Drake DuCaine and this guy standing beside me is Kyuubi the nine tailed fox demon or Kyu-Kun for short."_

_Naruto's eyes widened as he stared at the duck and red haired man in shock._

_"Drake DuCaine…and the Kyuubi?" voiced Naruto in disbelief. "But that's…that's impossible."_

To be continued

Naruto's fox form

Naruto can change the size of his fox form to a normal size fox or to the size of an Irish wolfhound. His form is swift and quiet making him a shadow that can disappear in and out of sight before striking his enemies when they least expect it. Naruto also has telepathy when he changes into this form so he is able to talk to people that he has a close connection to through a mind link.


	3. Chapter 3

The Fox of Konoha

I do not own Naruto or Mighty Ducks, only the characters that I created within the story.

Conversations leading to the connections of the past

_Naruto stared at the two beings in front of him who claimed to be the demon fox, Kyuubi, and the hero of Puckworld, Drake DuCaine. The 18 year old quickly shook his head to regain his senses before he formed his hands into a 'T'._

_"Okay, timeout here," started Naruto as he frowned at the two strangers in front of him while letting his hands drop down to his sides once again. "If you two really are the demon fox and the legendary hero of Puckworld then shouldn't you two be…well you know, dead?"_

_"We are," replied the duck, Drake DuCaine. "We're just spirits that are now living inside your body."_

_"Huh?" said Naruto as he looked at Drake in confusion._

_"Like I said before 'Not the sharpest tool in the shed'," muttered the red head, Kyuubi, as he rolled his eyes in exasperation._

_Drake gently shoved his elbow into Kyuubi's side as a light frown appeared over the mallard's beak._

_"Well then, maybe we should explain to him on how and why we came to reside within his body Kyu-kun." Drake said as he looked down at the smaller figure beside him._

_Kyuubi glared at Drake in annoyance before he stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest: "There is no way that I'm going to tell this little human brat my life's story on how I got sealed into his stupid body in the first place."_

_Drake glared down at the red head fox demon in displeasure before he grabbed the Kyuubi's right fox ear between his fingers and gave it a quick but gentle yank with Kyuubi winching in pain for a moment._

_"Who was the one that freed you from the cage from which you had been trapped in 13 years ago?" questioned Drake in a calm tone of voice._

_"You did," hissed Kyuubi through clenched teeth._

_"Right, and who is the oldest one around here?" asked Drake again as he let go of Kyuubi's ear before crossing his arms over his chest._

_"You are," muttered Kyuubi as he gingerly rubbed his sore ear in pain._

_"And don't you forget it," stated Drake as he poked the red head in the chest._

_Naruto stared at the two strangers in bemusement for a moment before Kyuubi suddenly cleared his throat to get the young 18 year old boy's attention._

_"Now, before I start my story I suggest that you change this ice cavern into something more…befitting for my taste, kit."_

_"Huh?" said Naruto as he looked at the humanoid fox in confusion with Drake chuckling in amusement._

_"What Kyu-kun is trying to say to you kid is that maybe you should change this cavern into a forest for him." Drake explained to Naruto, "For we need a place to sit comfortably in while we-or more precisely, you-are to listen to the fox's life story."_

_"Uh…okay," said Naruto with a nod, "But how do I…"_

_"Just manifest your thoughts into imagining a forest instead of this damn cave you dolt!" barked Kyuubi impatiently._

_Naruto flinched in surprise as he looked at Kyuubi in shock before frowning at the fox demon in displeasure._

_"Alright," grumbled Naruto before he closed his eyes and began to concentrate on changing the cavern into a forest._

_The 18 year old began to imagine a lush green forest with three logs sitting in a clearing as the sun's light streamed through the branches of the tree's canopy. Naruto slowly opened his eyes again and saw that ice cave was gone. In its place was the forest that he had imagined within his head a few moments ago. There were three logs sitting in a clearing with the sound of the wind blowing through the branches of the trees as the leaves rustled against each other. Light streamed through the branches of the trees as the sun's rays touched the lush green grass that grew underneath Naruto's feet._

_"Not bad kit," praised Kyuubi as he sat down on one of the logs within the clearing before he let out a sigh. "*Sigh*…finally, some warmth after living in that ice cavern for 13 years."_

_"I have to admit that this place is really nice," commented Drake as he looked up at the trees that made up the forest before he sat down on a log that stood right next to Kyuubi's log._

_Naruto sat down on a log that faced Kyuubi before the demon fox cleared his throat as he began his story._

_"Now…my story begins right before you were born. I was mated with a young female vixen whose fur was as white as snow, her name was Yuki. She was a spirited young vixen that had the grace and beauty that many of the other fox's within the elemental county would envy._

_"We had been blessed with six strong, healthy cubs and one of them would have been a great leader for the fox clan when my time came to step down as leader. But that quickly changed when I came back to my den one night and found my mate lying dead on the ground along with my pups. The sight of seeing the bodies of my dead pups and Yuki sent me into a fit of rage which made it easier for the human to control me."_

_"Who was this human that took control you?" asked Naruto from out of the blue as he interrupted the fox's story for a second. "What was this human's name?"_

_"The human's name was Madara kit," replied Kyuubi in a cold voice as he remembered the human that had used him to attack Konoha 18 years ago. "And he was the one who killed my family just so that he can get control of me. He used a special blood line technique that only exists within the Uchiha clan; it's called the Sharingan._

_"It's an eye technique that lets the user see while also mimicking their opponent's movements, and it can also manipulate a person's mind if the user wishes to do so. If only I'd had the chance to bite that human's head off when I first came face to face with him then I would have avenged by mate and pup's deaths. Madara soon made me attack your old home, Konoha, as I went on a rampage through that pathetic village that was home to those midget ninjas._

_"I killed many ninja's that were foolish enough to get in my way before I suddenly faced off against the Fourth Hokage. We fought against each other until the Hokage sealed me inside a baby that had only just been born within the village. And guess who the lucky child was chosen back then?"_

_Naruto was quiet for a moment as he stared at the grass that his feet rested on while he thought over what Kyuubi had said to him before a startling conclusion suddenly dawned on him. Naruto raised his head up to look at the fox demon with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging opened in shock._

_"Y-you mean…I was the one who was chosen to be your container?"_

_"That's right kit," replied Kyuubi with a smirk, "You should be honored to have me living inside your body for I was the one who kept you alive all those years while those villagers pummeled you to a pulp."_

_"Honored?" questioned Naruto in a low voice as he stood up from the log that he sat on while glaring down at Kyuubi who blinked up at him in surprise and confusion. "It was because of you that the people of Konoha had hated me ever since I was born. I was beaten to death every single day of my life and I was treated like an outcast because everyone in the village thought that I was you!_

_"What's the honor in having you locked up inside of my body when everyone around me only saw me as your reincarnation? I sometimes wished that I had never even born and that people would have been happier that I didn't exist!"_

_With that, Naruto began to walk away only to be stopped by Drake when the duck stood up from his seat and grabbed the boy's arm as he held it in a firm yet gentle grip._

_"Naruto wait," said Drake as the enraged 18 year old turned to glare at the hero of Puckworld. "Listen, I know that you're upset, but you've got to know that there's more to Kyuubi's story."_

_"What do you mean?" muttered Naruto as he stared at Drake in question._

_"Well…" Drake started as he slowly let go of Naruto's arm. "The only reason why the Hokage chose you to be Kyuubi's container was because he didn't want to sacrifice anyone else's child…except his own."_

_"His own?" echoed Naruto in confusion as he glared into Drake's eyes._

_What did Drake mean by 'the Hokage didn't want to sacrifice anyone else's child except his own?' For all Naruto knew the Fourth Hokage didn't have any children that he'd ever heard of living within the walls of Konoha village, until he quickly realized what Drake was trying to tell him. His heart leapt into his throat upon this realization and he was afraid to speak the question that started to form within his mouth._

_"Y-you mean that…I'm the Fourth Hokage's son?"_

_Drake only looked down at Naruto as he slowly nodded his head 'yes': "Your father's name was Minato Namikaze and he was the Fourth Hokage that saved Konoha from Kyuubi's rampage 18 years ago."_

_Naruto suddenly felt his legs give out from underneath him as the 18 year old fell with Drake quickly catching the boy in his arms before lowering him to the ground. Naruto was soon leaning up against the avian's chest as the hero of Puckworld held the young boy. The 18 year old began to shake out of anger and grief as tears began to form within the corner of his eyes._

"_Why…" muttered Naruto in a small, quiet voice. "Why did my own father do this to me? Why didn't Jiji-sama tell me that I had a father? I just don't understand any of this."_

_Drake began to rub Naruto's back as he tried to calm the 18 year old in his arms before he began to speak again._

_"Your father did this to you because he didn't want to sacrifice anyone else's child and the reason why the Third Hokage didn't tell you was because your father asked him not to. It was because your father loved you and he didn't want any of his enemies to know that he had a son."_

_Naruto didn't say anything for he only pressed his face deeper into the mallard's chest while Drake only held the boy. Kyuubi watched the scene before him as he began to feel a stab of pain within his heart. The demon began to feel sorry for the boy who had become his container when he was just a baby. If it hadn't been for him, Naruto would still have a father and a mother._

_"Your father wanted you to be a hero to Konoha," continued Drake as he looked down at the boy in his arms, "But instead of the villagers seeing you as a hero they only saw you as the Kyuubi himself and not his container. You've had a really hard life Naruto and that is understandable."_

_Naruto pulled away from Drake as he nodded his head without looking up at the avian in front of him, before he dried the tears from his face with the back of his hand. Drake cupped Naruto's right cheek with his hand before he gently lifted the boy's head up to face him in the eye after the boy had let his hand down from his face._

_"But that's all in the past now Naruto and you don't need to dwell on your memories any longer. Right now…you need to know why you were brought here to Puckworld in the first place."_

_"What do you mean?" questioned Naruto as Drake helped the 18 year old back up onto his feet._

_"The reason that you were brought to Puckworld was because I was the one who transported you to my home planet," answered Drake calmly as he placed his hands on top of Naruto's shoulders. "And what I'm about to tell you is this…you have a great destiny ahead of you Naruto, but you will not be facing it alone."_

_Naruto looked at Drake in astonishment. He was the one that brought Naruto to Puckworld 13 years ago? The 18 year old didn't know what to think at first, but he quickly thought it over and soon realized that if Drake hadn't brought him to Puckworld than Naruto wouldn't have found a family and three brothers who really cared about him. Naruto then thought about what Drake had said that he had a destiny here on Puckworld, but hearing that he wouldn't be facing it alone made the boy feel a little at ease about it._

_"What is this destiny?" asked Naruto curiously, "And…who exactly is it that is going to help me in fulfilling it?"_

_Kyuubi stepped in as he stood up from his log with his arms crossed over his chest before the demon answered the boy's question: "Well kit, to answer your first question, Drake brought you to his world to fight against the Saurian Overlord, Dragaunus."_

_"And as for your second question," added Drake with a reassuring smile as he let his hands drop down from Naruto's shoulders. "It's not just one person who will be helping you it's a group. And you've already met one of the ducks that will help you on your journey."_

_Naruto looked at Drake in confusion for a moment before his eyes went wide in realization: "You mean…Duke?"_

_Drake nodded his head before he began to talk to Naruto again: "Duke has a history that is somewhat similar to your past Naruto and you're going to have to learn to trust him if you ever want to succeed in stopping the Saurian Overlords."_

_Naruto frowned in thought at what Drake had said to him. How could Duke have a similar past to his own? But then he thought about what Drake had said about other ducks that will be help him within his journey._

_"But what about these other ducks who are supposed to help me?" questioned Naruto as he pressed on, "How will I know who they are and where can I find them?"_

_"You'll know who they are and you'll know when you found them for you just need to keep your eyes and mind wide open," replied Drake as he placed his right hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Also…let your instinct's guide you."_

_Naruto looked at Drake for a moment before he slowly nodded his head in understanding. Then another thought came into the 18 year old boy's mind._

_"How am I supposed to fight the Saurian Overlords? I don't know the first thing about hand to hand combat, much less how to handle a weapon."_

_"Oh brother," muttered Kyuubi as he rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Does he never stop asking questions? Look kit, you don't have to worry about that, because DuCaine and I will be the ones who will train you for the battles that are to come up in your future."_

_Naruto blinked at Kyuubi in surprise before he looked between the fox demon and mallard for a minute._

_"You mean…you guys will teach me how to fight?"_

_"Individually, yes," replied Drake with a smile. "Along with one of us supervising you, but you won't be starting training tonight. Tomorrow is when you'll start your training. Right now you need to wake up before your mother does."_

_Naruto reluctantly nodded his head as Drake lifted his hand off of the 18 year old boy's shoulder before he gently pressed two of his fingers against the blonde's forehead. Naruto began to feel his eyelids growing heavy before he blacked out._

Drake and Kyuubi

_Drake watched as Naruto disappeared in front of him before the mallard turned to look at Kyuubi with the fox demon turning his back towards him in a huff._

_"You know Kyu-kun this is the first time that I saw you willing to help someone," stated Drake as he stared at the back of the fox demon in front of him._

_"It's the least I could do for the human cub," muttered Kyuubi in a low voice. "After all, it was my fault that I ripped him away from his mother and father."_

_"But it was also Madara's fault for he was the one who killed your family and got you into a fit of rage in the first place."_

_"And that's what I hate about myself!" snarled Kyuubi as he punched the nearest tree that stood in front of him in anger. "If I hadn't let my anger get the better of me than Naruto's **real** family would still be alive!"_

_Drake looked at Kyuubi for a moment as a sad frown slowly formed on his face before he walked up to the fox demon and placed a comforting hand on the man's shoulder._

_"You shouldn't keep beating yourself up about it Kyu-kun," said Drake in a soothing voice. "What happened…happened, and there's nothing that you can do to change the past."_

_Kyuubi let out a frustrating sigh for he knew that Drake had a point. There was nothing that the fox demon could do to change the past. All he can do now was keep moving on towards the future while helping Drake in training Naruto for his upcoming fight against the Saurian Overlords._

_The two unlikely individuals stood in the clearing for hours as the hero of Puckworld stood behind Kyuubi with his hand resting on the demon's shoulder as the mallard comfort the fox like an older brother would with their younger sibling. It was the only thing that Drake could do for the fox, because he knew how much Kyuubi hated to show any kind of weakness in front of the mallard after living with him inside Naruto's body for 18 years. In those years, Drake had viewed Kyuubi as a little brother and would try everything he could to make the demon fox understand that showing emotions doesn't make a person weak, but so far…no luck. Drake can only hope that one day Kyuubi will show more than just anger towards the older mallard, until then Drake will wait for as long as it takes._

The real world

Naruto let out a small moan as he slowly opened his eyes before he sat up with a start. The 18 year old found him-self still sitting in the chair that he had been occupying last night so that he could be near his mother incased he needed to protect her from any hunter drones that might come barging into the house.

Naruto quickly turned his eyes on the couch and saw his mother beginning to stir from her sleep as she opened her eyes to the world around her. Mrs. Thunderbeak's eyes landed on her son as Naruto looked down at her in worry before she let a reassuring smile grace her face.

"Good morning Naruto," greeted Mrs. Thunderbeak in a soft voice.

Naruto smiled back at his mother: "Good morning to you too mother, how are you feeling?"

"A little better than what I felt yesterday," replied Mrs. Thunderbeak, "But I'm still not 100% healthy yet."

"At least you're getting better," said Naruto as he pulled off his blanket before standing up from his chair. "I'll get you your medicine."

Naruto walked over to his military bag as he knelt down and began to open it. He pulled out his mother's medicine along with a one of the water filled canteens. Naruto placed the canteen down on the ground beside the military bag before he opened the lid of the capsule. He tipped the capsule slightly so that two pills came falling into the palm of his right hand. The 18 year old tipped the capsule right back up again before he twisted the lid back on it again. Naruto then tucked the capsule back into the front pouch of his military bag before grabbing the water canteen again.

Naruto stood up from the floor and walked over to the couch before helping his mother sit up. He handed Mrs. Thunderbeak her pills as she popped the pills into her mouth before talking the water canteen from her son after Naruto unscrewed the cap for her. Naruto watched his mother take a swig of the water for a moment as she swallowed the pills before she handed the canteen back to him.

Naruto screwed the lid back on the water canteen before he walked back over to his military bag and knelt down on the floor again: "Do you want anything to eat mother?"

"Not right now honey," replied Mrs. Thunderbeak with a shake of her head.

"But I might want to have somethin' to eat if you don't mind sharing your food with me kid."

Naruto's ears perked up at the familiar voice behind him and he quickly turned to look over his shoulder. Standing in the entrance of the family room was Duke as the drake leaned up against the doorframe with a smirk on his beak. Naruto saw that Duke's right eye was still covered by bandages, but the bandages that were wrapped around the thief's head and eye indicated that they were new, which meant that Duke had gotten medical attention last night.

Naruto only smirked at the thief before he turned his back to Duke and began to dig through his military bag. The 18 year old soon pulled out an apple from his bag before he stood up from the ground and turned around as he tossed the fruit over to Duke while the thief easily caught it with his right hand.

"Thanks kid," said Duke with a smile before he walked into the family room.

"It's good to see you again Duke," greeted Mrs. Thunderbeak with a smile.

"Same here ma'am," replied Duke with a nod of his head. "And it's good to see that you two are doing okay here so far."

"No trouble for us so far," spoke Naruto as he shrugged his shoulders before asking Duke a question. "So…how's your eye doing?"

"Not too bad kid," replied Duke as he switched the apple over to his left hand before tracing the fingers of his right hand over the bandage that covered his eye. "But I'm afraid that I won't be able to see out of this eye anymore."

Naruto's ears and tail drooped down in shame when Duke told the fox/boy that he wouldn't be able to see out of his right eye ever again.

"I wish that I had jumped into to help you sooner," voiced Naruto as he cast his eyes downwards towards the floor.

Duke looked at Naruto in surprise before the thief placed his right hand on top of the 18 year old boy's shoulder as the fox/boy looked up at the drake again.

"It wasn't your fault kid," reassured Duke with a smile on his beak. "Sometimes…stuff just happens."

Naruto looked up at Duke for a moment before he gave the older mallard a halfhearted smile. Duke let his hand drop down from the boy's shoulder before Naruto walked out of the family room so that he can be alone for a while. Duke watched Naruto's retreating form for a moment before he turned his good eye on Mrs. Thunderbeak as his smile turned into a frown of worry.

"The kid doesn't seem like him-self today," stated the drake before he took a bite out of his apple.

"Sometimes my son can get a little upset over things that he could prevent from happening," said Mrs. Thunderbeak as she cast her eyes down towards the floor of the family room. "My son didn't have a good life when he was 6 years old before my eldest son and his friend found Naruto in an alley with wounds that were cut deeply into his body. Those wounds would have been fatal to a regular duck, but Naruto somehow survived those wounds."

"Well he is a pretty unique kid," spoke Duke with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You're the only one who thinks so," voiced Mrs. Thunderbeak, "For when my husband and I first adopted him the people of Puckworld were a little wary of Naruto being around their children. So the only friends he'd ever made are his old brother, Canard, and the two Flashblade brothers."

"And what did your husband think about the kid?" asked Duke curiously.

Mrs. Thunderbeak let out a sigh before she answered Duke's question: "My husband is part of the military and he doesn't trust any strangers that are outside of our family and he wasn't really thrilled in having Naruto as part of our family. When we first adopted Naruto, Armand wasn't too keen on having another child within the family and would always keep his distance from Naruto while being hard on him whenever he did something wrong.

"But he soon began to regret his decision when he saw how Naruto would always keep as far away from him as possible by hiding behind his brother or switching to other rooms. Armand soon indulged him-self in his work within the military while training Canard to be a great soldier within the army. It also helped distract him from the pain he felt within his heart. But I sometimes think that Armand and Naruto might have a few things in common with each other."

"Like what exactly?"

"Well…they're both hardheaded and strong-spirited."

Duke frowned at Mrs. Thunderbeak for a moment before turning his head towards the entrance of the family room that he saw Naruto walk out through. He turned back to look at Mrs. Thunderbeak.

"I'm going to go see if I can talk to kid," said Duke, "Is that okay?"

Mrs. Thunderbeak only nodded her head at Duke before the older drake made his way out of the family room in search of Naruto. The thief soon found the 18 year old sitting on the couch in the living room as the boy held a picture frame within his hands. Duke slowly walked over to the couch with him still holding his half eaten apple in his left hand.

The thief took a seat right beside Naruto and saw that the 18 year old was holding a picture of a young male duckling standing with his older sister kneeling beside him. Duke gently took the picture out of Naruto's hands as he began to look at the photo as well.

"I see that you've already explored the house while stumbling upon this photo in the process," said Duke with a small smile appearing on his beak.

Naruto looked at Duke for a moment before looking at the duckling within the photo: "Duke…the duckling within that photo…was that you when you were younger?"

"Yeah…that was me when I was younger," replied Duke with a nod of his head. "And the female duck kneeling beside me within the photo is my older sister, Bella."

"Your sister is pretty cool looking," complemented Naruto.

"Yeah, and she was also one of the best hockey players within her school. She was the center player on her team before I was born and she was also the fastest female duck on the ice. Bella soon taught me how to play hockey when I turned 12 years old."

"Wow, so…where is she?"

Naruto soon regretted asking that question when he suddenly saw Duke's smile disappearing from his face as it was replaced by a sad frown. The 18 year old bit his bottom lip before looking down at the floor in shame.

"Sorry," voiced Naruto, "I…I didn't mean to…"

"My sister died in a car accident when I was 17 years old," spoke Duke as he interrupted Naruto's sentence. "We were walking down the street, on our way home from school, when a truck suddenly sped around the corner. Everything began to speed up for me after that. One minute I was standing beside my sister and then the next thing I knew, Bella suddenly pushed me back towards the sidewalk.

"Everything became a blur after that for I must have bumped my head on something, but the last thing I saw before I pasted out was my sister's face. I soon woke up in the hospital and I didn't see my sister anywhere in the room with me. I asked the people in the hospital what had become of my sister and they told me that…she didn't make it."

Naruto sadly looked at Duke as the thief place the photo back down onto the coffee table while also placing his apple on the table as well for he didn't feel hungry any more.

"I was full of grief back then kid," Duke continued. "It felt like the whole world had just…ended for me right then and there, because I knew that I would never see my sister again. I was all alone back then kid and I had no one else to turn to for help."

"What about your parents?" asked Naruto, "I mean…didn't you have a mother and father?"

Duke shook his head 'no' before he began to talk again: "My father left my mother and sister after he found out that my mom was pregnant with me. As for my mother…she died when I turned 15 years old on my birthday. She had caught a disease that was fatal to all of us ducks on Puckworld. My sister was old enough at the time to take care of both of us so she became my guardian. Bella was the best sister that I'd ever had."

"You were lucky to have known your mother and sister," voiced Naruto as he looked down at the floor again. "I didn't know my true family when I was born."

"What happened to them?" asked Duke as he looked over at the boy beside him.

"Well…I don't really know," replied Naruto with a shrug of his shoulder, "Because no one had really told me about them or who they were. As of how I got here to Puckworld…that's kind of a mystery."

Naruto knew that he was lying to the drake beside him, but the boy just didn't want to tell Duke about his past just yet. Not until he knew that he could trust this thief with his secrets like he did with Nosedive, Wildwing and Canard. Yet he also told part of the truth to Duke so that he could be fair on even terms with the mallard that had helped him and his mother when they were attack by Falcone last night.

"You're lyin' kid," stated Duke suddenly which made Naruto flinch for a moment in fear before the drake leaned back into the couch with his hands folded behind his head and his left eye closed. "But that's to be expected when someone doesn't fully trust a thief yet, so it's understandable if you don't want to talk about you past to a complete stranger like me."

Naruto stared at Duke in surprise, for this drake was one of the few, besides Canard, Wildwing and Nosedive, who didn't press the 18 year old into telling him about his past. Naruto let a small smile appear on his on his face as he looked at the drake that sat beside him.

"Thanks Duke," said Naruto. "And don't worry, I promise that I'll tell you everything about my past when I feel ready."

"Same with me kid," said Duke with a smile as he opened his good eye and turned his head to look at Naruto, "Because there are a few things within my past that I'm not ready to tell ya yet either."

Naruto only smiled at Duke as a small glimmer of trust began to spark within the young 18 year old boy's heart. Maybe his mother and Drake were right about trusting your instincts and not to judge people on their outer appearance too quickly, but Naruto still wondered about the other ducks that Drake had mentioned within his dream. Who were the other ducks that would help him in his fight against Dragaunus? And how will he know when he had found them? Only time will tell for the young 18 year old, but for now he had to keep his promise to Canard and protect their mother with his life, no matter what it takes.

This was only just the beginning for Naruto and his destiny on Puckworld, because his life will change from being a bystander to one of the many hero's that will take down Dragaunus and his empire forces once and for all.

To be continued


	4. Chapter 4

The Fox of Konoha

I do not own Naruto or Mighty Ducks, only the characters that I created within the story.

Reunited with siblings 

Six months had passed for Naruto as he trained with Drake and Kyuubi to become stronger in his upcoming fight against Dragaunus while protecting his mother in the process. He was also trained by Duke in swordsmanship. The thief also taught the young 18 year old boy everything he knew about how to live on the streets, especially how to pick locks. Over those months Naruto and Duke became close friends as they got to know each other better while also watching each other's back.

The bandages that had once hidden Duke's right eye were now off as a cybernetic eye patch now replaced the eye that the thief had lost in his battle against Falcone. Duke had left his mob after he had chased out Falcone for he had quickly found out that the raptorial bird had been killing other ducks so that he could feed his greedy pockets. Duke decided to become the protector of Naruto's mother, because he owed the 18 year old for helping him in his fight against Falcone.

As for Mrs. Thunderbeak, she was still ill but she was becoming stronger under the care of her son and Duke as the two of them tried to help the female mallard through her time of need.

Naruto would sometimes sneak out of the house while leaving his mother in Duke's capable hands as he search through the ruins of Ice City to find food and water for the three of them to survive on. Naruto would use his fox form to travel around the city because it was much easier for him sneak around than in his human/half-breed form.

The 18 year old was able to change the size of his fox form after a bit of training from Kyuubi. He was able to shrink his form to the size of a normal fox so that he could squeeze through small holes or crevices to get inside of the broken down buildings. And when he was faces off against a hoard of Hunter Drones then Naruto would change into his larger form in a heartbeat. He would easily take them down and shred them into a pile of scrap metal while not breaking a sweat.

Naruto was returning back from one of his adventures around the ruin city of his home in his larger fox form with a bag hanging from his mouth. In the bag were six water bottles, five apples, and some other stuff that would help him, his mother and Duke survive the invasion. Naruto was now standing on the porch of his temporary home. He gently placed the bag down on the ground before he closed his eyes and began to concentrate in changing back into his human/half-breed form. The same golden aura that had once engulfed him a few months back radiated around his body. His fox form slowly melted away and was replaced with his half human/fox form. Naruto stretched out his arms for a moment before he picked the bag up off the porch with his right hand.

"It's good to be back in my normal form again," muttered Naruto as he opened the door of the house and walked inside.

As the young 18 year old stepped into the house he was greeted by the sight of his mother walking out of the family room with Duke coming up behind her. Naruto let a small smile spread out across his face when he saw that his mother was up and walking about, which was something that he was glad to see. Naruto gently closed the door behind him before entering further into the house.

"Hey mom, hey Duke," greeted Naruto as he walked up to Duke and Mrs. Thunderbeak.

"Welcome back kid," said Duke with a smile. "We were getting worried about you."

"Sorry about that," said Naruto before he stopped in front of his mother and Duke. "I just had a little run in with a group of Hunter Drones, but it was nothing that I couldn't handle."

"Well…I'm just glad that you're safe," spoke Mrs. Thunderbeak as she hugged her son with Naruto hugging her back.

Duke smiled at the scene for a moment before he gently ruffled the young 18 year old boy's hair. Naruto pulled away from his mother as he looked over at Duke with a smile spread out on his face with the older duck smiling back at him. Naruto was glad that Duke was here to protect his mother for he wouldn't know what he would do if his mother was taken away by the Saurian Hunter Drones.

"So," started Naruto as he, his mother and Duke walked back into the family room. "Did anything happen while I was away?"

"No, no trouble around here so far," answered Duke as they all sat down in the chairs while they spoke to each other.

"And we're lucky for that," stepped in Mrs. Thunderbeak. "The drones always seemed uninterested in this part of the city, which means that we're safe for the time being."

"Yeah," muttered Naruto as he lowered the bag he had in his hand down to the ground. "But I have a feeling that those Hunter Drones will find us eventually and when they do then there will be no place safe for us to hide anymore."

"That's a good point kid," said Duke in agreement as he leaned back against his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "We'll probably have to find another hiding place soon. Otherwise we'll get caught by those Hunter Drones one day."

Mrs. Thunderbeak nodded her head sadly in agreement before she turned her eyes onto her son.

"So what do you think we should do Naruto?" asked Mrs. Thunderbeak curiously.

Naruto blinked in surprise when his mother asked him that question before he looked down at the floor in thought. He knew that they cannot stay in this old house forever; it was only a matter of time until those Hunter Drones found them. Naruto soon made up his decision as he turned his eyes up to face Duke and his mother.

"I'm going to have to go out again tomorrow," spoke Naruto. "I'll try to find a new place for us to hide, until then you two will have to keep hiding here for the time being. So Duke, I'm counting on you to look after my mother and protect her while I'm away."

"You got it kid," replied Duke with a nod.

Mrs. Thunderbeak looked at her son as a sad smile graced her face. Naruto was growing up so fast and pretty soon he won't need her any more. Naruto got up from his seat as he walked over to his mother before kneeling down in front of her while taking both of her hands into his own.

"I promise that I'll come back as soon as I can mother." Naruto promised as he looked up into his mother's eyes.

"I know you will my dear," said Mrs. Thunderbeak with a nod. "Just be careful out there, for the streets are becoming more dangerous with each passing day."

"I know," replied Naruto. "And don't worry…I will."

Mrs. Thunderbeak soon brought Naruto into a hug with the 18 year old hugging her back. Duke watch the two for a moment before he began to think back on what his life was like when he was a young teenager. His life had quickly been turned into a nightmare before his very eyes after he lost his sister in that car accident so many years ago. If only he could turn back time just to see his mother and older sister again, but Duke knew that it was impossible to do so. He soon turned to a life of crime where he would seal jewels from rich people yet it never gave him any purpose. But after meeting Naruto and his mother, he felt as if he had a purpose in life now and he was not going to throw it away. Duke was going to protect both Naruto and his mother for as long as it takes.

Dream realm

_Naruto was sitting in the clearing with Drake and Kyuubi as he began to tell them of his plans for tomorrow._

"_You've got to be kidding us!" exclaimed Kyuubi in an all-out fury. "You can't go out into that ruin city again! Those Hunter Drones will catch you the second you show your stupid face to them!"_

"_But my mother and I can't just stay in Duke's old home forever," argued Naruto as he looked at the fox demon in front of him. "If we stay in the old city any longer then we'll wind up being found by Dragaunus's Hunter Drones. I can't take that chance when it comes down to my mother."_

"_If you go back out there then you'll wind up getting yourself killed!" barked Kyuubi in anger as he tried to make Naruto see reason._

"_But he's right Kyu-kun," stepped in Drake as he looked over at the fox demon. "If he stays in Duke's house for too long then the drones will eventually find him his sooner or later."_

_Kyuubi was about to retort to Drake's reason, but soon shut his mouth when he realized that the duck was right. He soon leaned his head into the palm of his hands as a frown crossed over his face._

"_I hate it when you're always right," grumbled Kyuubi as he gave Drake a cold glare of annoyance._

_Drake only gave Kyuubi a friendly smile before he turned to look at Naruto: "But Kyu-kun does have point Naruto. You have to be careful when you go out there, because one wrong step and you'll wind up being shot by those tin-headed robots."_

"_Don't worry Drake, I'll be careful." Naruto reassured the legendary hero of Puckworld. "I'll make sure to stick to the shadows like you told me to and I will try to avoid going out into the open."_

"_And also try not to get yourself killed alright Kit?" added Kyuubi in a monotone voice._

"_I'll make sure that I won't," said Naruto as he looked over at Kyuubi with a tired smile on his face._

_Naruto had gotten to know Kyuubi a little bit better_ _throughout the months and found out that the demon fox wasn't all that bad. The fox demon was always in a bad mood, but it was only because he wanted to hide his true feelings from Naruto and Drake, which the two didn't mind at all for they knew that he will eventually open up to them in time._

"_Well," started Naruto as he stood up from his log seat. "I'd better get going. The sun is going to rising soon and I don't want to miss an early start."_

"_Alright," said Drake with a nod of his head. "We'll see you again tomorrow night."_

"_If we ever see you again," grumbled Kyuubi before he was suddenly hit in the head by a small stone that was flicked at him by Drake._

"_Stop being so negative Kyu-kun," chided Drake as he scowled at Kyuubi in displeasure. "Otherwise you'll wind up giving Naruto negative feelings as well."_

"_Sorry," voiced Kyuubi as he sourly rubbed the side of his head in pain._

_Naruto smiled at the two while he shook his head in amusement before he decided that is was time for him to wake up and start his search for a new hiding place for him and his mother._

Real world

Naruto slowly opened his eyes to the world around him before he let out a yawn. The 18 year old slowly stretched his arms and back out before he quietly stood up from his chair. He looked over at the couch and saw his mother sleeping quietly on it before turning his gaze on Duke who was sleeping in a chair not far from his own. Naruto smiled at the two before he started two folded up his blanket. He set his blanket down on the arm of the chair and began to make his way towards the door, but was stopped when he heard Duke's voice speak from behind him.

"You going out?" asked the thief as he still sat in his chair with his left eye open.

"Yeah," replied Naruto as he turned to face the dark grey duck behind him.

Duke nodded his head at the 18 year old before he closed his eye again: "Alright, just be careful out there kid."

Naruto nodded his head back at Duke before he continued on his way towards the front door. The 18 year old quietly opened the door of the house and stepped out into the outside world again. His eyes lay on the ruin city that had once been his home when he was six years old. Naruto also remembered his older brother Canard and his two best friends and wondered if they were alright. The golden hair 18 year old quickly shook his head before he quickly got back to the situation at hand. He had to find a safe haven for him and his mother to hide from the Hunter Drones. Naruto quickly changed into his dog size fox form before he took off down the porch and headed towards the ruin city of his once beautiful home.

The ruins of Ice City

Naruto quietly walked through the abandoned streets of his home while he made sure to keep to the shadows of the ruin city as he searched for the safest place for him and his mother to hide, but so far…no luck. Naruto quickly snuck under a pile of concrete rubble as he watched a few Hunter Drones walked past his hiding place.

'_Oh man, finding a hiding place is going to be harder than I thought._' Naruto mused as he slowly slipped out from underneath the rubble.

Naruto continued on his trek through the city as he soon found himself walking into an abandoned alley before he suddenly heard something behind him. The fox changeling quickly turned around and saw two Hunter Drones standing behind him. Naruto quickly went into attack mode as he bared his fangs at the Hunter Drones in front of him. He soon went on the offensive when the Hunter Drones began to fire their lasers at him. Naruto nimbly avoided the lasers that were shot at him before he sunk his fangs into the neck of the first Hunter Drone and tore off its head before he tossed it to the side. He soon attacked the next drone by slashing his claws deep into its chest. The two drones soon fell to the ground with sparks flying off their bodies while Naruto snarled at them in anger.

His fur raised up on the back of his neck as his muscles tensed for any more dangers that might come sneaking up on him again. Naruto's fox ears soon flicked to the sound of metal footsteps coming up from behind him and quickly turned around to see 10 more drones marching towards him. Naruto let out a loud snarl as he glared at the drones that had destroyed his city and his home. Rage soon consumed the young 18 year old boy's senses as he quickly shot forward to attack the drones that were stocking towards him. Naruto tore and bit savagely through the metal machines that were his enemies while the Hunter Drones shot their lasers at the attacking fox.

The lasers cut right through Naruto's golden fur while inflicting many wounds upon his body, but Naruto fought fiercely against the robots until the last one fell to his fangs. Naruto panted as he glared at the damage that he had made in his frenzy before he began to feel his strength leaving him. Blood ran out of his wounds as a few tiny droplets fell onto the concrete ground.

'_That takes care of those tin cans!_' growled Naruto within his head before he started his trek once again.

His journey was a slow one for his wounds were much deeper than the changeling had thought they'd be. Naruto soon wondered into another abandoned alley were he sank to the ground in exhaustion as his blood seeped across the concrete ground.

'_I'll just…rest for a second,_' thought Naruto as his eyelids began to droop halfway over his eyes for a moment, but his ears quickly shot up when they caught the sound of footsteps.

Naruto's eyes quickly shot open in alarm before he slowly got up from the ground and began to growl at the new comer that was coming towards him. He waited for the owner of the footsteps to appear before him as the fox got ready for another fight against what might be a group of Hunter Drones. But Naruto was nearly taken off guard when he saw the owner of the footsteps.

The owner of the footsteps was actually a male duck. He had tan feathers, brown eyes and bangs of hair that hung over his forehead. The drake was wearing a black short sleeve shirt, dark blue jeans that were held up by a brown belt and black boots. Over top of the duck's shirt was a chest armor that was dark brown in color. On the duck's left shoulder was a white armor shoulder pad with an upside down green triangle with two hockey sticks crisscrossing with each other while on his right shoulder was a brown shoulder pad. On the ducks left arm was the same symbol that sat on the white shoulder pad and on the lower right arm of the duck was a golden vambrace. Over the drake's left should was a one strapped pack and lastly on the ducks top bill was a battle patch. The duck looked to be around 21 years old.

Naruto continued to snarl a warning at the stranger in front of him as the fur on the back of his neck rose up to make him look even bigger than he already was. The drake stopped in his tracks with a surprised look on his face, but that surprise soon turned serious when he saw Naruto's wounds.

"Looks like you've been fighting against Dragaunus's drones," said the drake as he looked down at the fox before him.

Naruto only growled as he glared up at the drake, but the changeling soon felt the last of his strength leave him. The fox collapsed to the ground in a heap as his sides heaved while he tried to catch his breath. Naruto could only lie on the ground helplessly as he watched the drake come walking up to him. The drake soon knelt down by Naruto's side as he looked over the wounds that harbored the fox's body before he shrugged the shoulder pack off and quickly opened the flap. The drake pulled out a blanket that was folded into a small square before he unfolded it and draped it over top of Naruto's body. Naruto looked up at the drake in confusion before the duck began to gently stroke the side of his neck.

"Take it easy," voiced the duck gently. "Everything is going to be alright."

Naruto continued to stare at the drake for a moment until he felt his eyelids drooping as he began to fall into darkness, but not before one thought ran through his head.

'_C…Canard_'.

Two hours later

Darkness…that was all Naruto could see right now as he lay quietly on the ground for what felt like years to him until he started to hear voices talking all around him.

"Canard…what is the meaning of this!" shouted a voice in anger.

"I had to bring him here sir," replied a second voice to the first on. "It was on its last leg out there. I couldn't just leave it out there for the Hunter Drones to kill it."

"This is a military base son, we don't allow animals into our base!" exclaimed the first voice.

"Does that also include little brothers as well," snapped the second voice in anger.

Naruto's ears twitched when he heard what the second voice had said before he began to slowly open his eyes and saw two drakes standing in front of him. The first drake was the same one that he had met in the alley before he had fainted. The second duck was wearing military clothing which suggested that he was the highest within the military ranks, but this duck also had the familiar traits of his mother's husband. Naruto also saw that he was behind metal bars which told him that he was in a cage.

'_This is just great,_' muttered Naruto quietly to himself. '_I've been brought to who knows where and I'm stuck in a cage while listening to these two drakes bicker between each other._'

The duck that looked like Mr. Thunderbeak glared into the tan duck's eyes before he began to talk again: "Listen to me soldier. I know that you miss our family, but we have to except that they are gone and there's nothing that we can do about it."

"You many think that they're gone but I know that they're still alive," argued the tan drake.

"Then you're living on false hope General," said the second drake.

The high ranked officer soon walked out of Naruto's sight and that was when the changeling made his presences known by letting out a small whimper. The tan duck heard him as he quickly turned his head to look down at Naruto in surprise as the changeling slowly raised his head up from the ground.

"Well, looks like you've made it through the night," stated the drake as he knelt down to get eye level with Naruto. "I was kind of worried that you wouldn't make it, but it seems that you are a lot stronger than you look."

Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion before he looked down at his body. He saw that half of his body was wrapped in bandages. A bandage was wrapped around his left foreleg, along with his right back leg and around his stomach. Naruto blinked in surprise before he turned his head to look back at the tan mallard again.

"One of the medics within our secret base helped to bandage up your wounds," explained Canard when he saw the look on Naruto's face. "Her name is Tanya and I'm kind of surprised that she didn't start sneezing around you since she's allergic to dogs."

Naruto frown when he heard what this duck had said about him being a dog before growling to show that he was insulted. The drake chuckled when he heard Naruto growling at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you like that." The drake apologized with a smile, "It's just that I have never seen a creature like you around here before and you do kind of look like a dog with your size."

Naruto only snorted before the drake suddenly slipped his right hand through the bars of the cage and began to stroke the changeling's head. Naruto blinked in surprise for a moment before he began to relax against the stranger's touch. Something about this drake's touch seemed familiar to Naruto. The drake's touch was like his older brother's touch and that made Naruto whine quietly in sadness. The mallard heard Naruto's whine as he looked down at the fox that he was petting.

"I'm guessing you lost your family to Dragaunus and his Hunter Drones too, huh?" questioned the drake as he kept petting Naruto on the head.

'_Something like that,_' thought Naruto as he looked at the drake in front of him. '_I can only hope that my brother is okay, and that he is alive somewhere while he's fighting against Dragaunus's forces. And I hope that Wildwing and Nosedive are okay too._'

The drake was about to draw his hand back when he noticed the chain that was half hidden underneath Naruto's neck of fur.

"Hey, what's this?" said the mallard as he slowly moved his hand down towards the chain before lifting the two military dog-tags up into view. "Hey…these look like-"

"General!" shouted a voice to Naruto's and the drake's far left as the two quickly turned their heads to face the one that had spoken.

Standing in the doorway was a young drake that looked to be around 19 year's old with dark brown feathers and golden/brown hair. He was wearing a dark blue T-shirt with short sleeves, faded blue jeans with a hole in the left knee and black boots. Over top of the drake's shirt was a dark green chest plate with a white upside down 'V' sitting on the front, white shoulder armor pads and two black armbands.

"What is it soldier?" asked the tan drake as he look at the younger duck that was standing before him.

"Your father wants to speak with you some more within his office," replied the young drake as he stood ridged in front of the tan duck.

"Alright, I'll be there soon." The tan Drake replied with a sigh before he turned to look at Naruto again. "I have to go now, but I'll come back to check on you later alright?"

Naruto let out a small bark before the drake patted his head again. The drake drew his hand back as he stood up from the cage and began to walk towards the door. Naruto watched in silence as the tan drake and the 19 year old drake walked out of the room together before he laid his head down on the ground.

'_Looks like I'm stuck here for a while,_' Naruto mused as he stared out between the cage's bars. '_I just hope mom and Duke are okay._'

Naruto lay on the cold metal cage floor for a while as questions began to race around through his head before one question suddenly stopped for him to think. Why did that tan drake feel so familiar to him? Could it be that the tan drake was his brother, Canard?

'_No way, that can't be possible!_' exclaimed Naruto within his head.

But his heart said otherwise and the young 18 year old began to remember how the drake's touch was strictly similar to his brother's touch. Naruto turned his head towards the door as he stared out at it in hopes of seeing the tan drake again. Naruto's ears suddenly picked up the sound of feet coming his way, and by the way they sounded he could only guess that it was a female who was walking down the hall. The changeling slowly lifted his head up as he watched a female duck enter the room.

The female duck had dark red hair, emerald green eyes and peach/tan feathers. She was wearing a dark purple sleeveless body suite with light purple armor, a white shoulder pad sat on her left shoulder with a dark purple stripe on it and white boots. On the duck's right hand was a fingerless glove while on her left wrist was circular black wrist com. She looked to be around 20 years old.

Naruto watched as the duck walked up to his cage before she knelt down to get a better look at him. The fox cocked his head to the side as he and the duck stared into each other's eyes in an uncomfortable silence until the female duck finally decided to speak.

"So you're the creature that Canard had brought off from the street." The duck stated as she rested her hand against the side of her cheek. "I guess he was right when he said that you were in bad shape."

Naruto's ears perked up when the duck mentioned his brother's name. The female duck noticed the fox's reaction when she mentioned Canard's name and became curious.

"Hmm…from your reaction you seem to know Canard," voiced the duck in suspicion. "But there is no way that Canard could know you."

'_Not while I'm in this form,_' thought Naruto as he lowered his head down to his paws again as his ears dropped down to his skull in depression. '_And I can't change back into my original form, because I don't know how my brother or the other ducks within this base will react._'

The female looked down at the fox in confusion: "Hey, what's wrong?"

Naruto only whined as he closed his eyes in pain, but not from the wounds that he had received from the Hunter Drones. It was the pain of not being able to see his brother Canard in his original form. The red head looked down at the fox for a moment before she slowly slipped her left hand through the bars of the cage and began to stroke Naruto's head. Naruto was a little surprised by this, but decided to let the duck have her way, for it was just a pet after all. Besides it felt kind of good to have someone comfort him. The changeling suddenly heard footsteps coming. The red head also heard the footsteps as she drew her hand away from Naruto's head and stood up from her crouching position. Naruto raised his head up to get a better look at who was coming into the room.

The owner of the footsteps soon reviled themselves to be another female duck. The duck had long slightly dark blonde hair that stood up on her head as it was held up by a light blue headband, light blonde feathers and blue eyes that were hidden behind a pair of pink shaded glasses. She was wearing a high collar purple jacket with the sleeves being rolled up near the duck's elbows and purple pants that stretched down towards the duck's knees. On the female duck's left shoulder was a white shoulder pad while on the duck's right arm was a metal device. On her feet were a pair of white boots and around the duck's waist was a light blue belt. Also on the female duck's left wrist was the same device that the red head duck has. In the female duck's left hand was a medical kit.

The female duck stopped in her tracks when she saw the red haired duck in front of her.

"Mallory, what are you doing here?" as the blonde in surprise.

"Just came by to check out your patient here Tanya," the red head, now known as Mallory, replied as she went into a relaxed position.

"Is that all," said the blonde, Tanya, with a smile before she walked up to Naruto's cage. "Well at lest you two aren't biting each other's heads off."

Naruto grunted which sounded like a 'Huh?' to the two female ducks as he cocked his head to the side again. Tanya and Mallory let out a short snicker before the blonde knelt down in front of the cage and opening the metal bar door.

"All right come on out boy," said Tanya as she began to coax's Naruto out of the cage.

Naruto hesitated for a moment before he slowly stood up from the metal cage's floor and began to make his way out. Mallory and Tanya watched in surprise as the fox walked out of the cage without even letting out a whimper of pain.

"Well, looks like we have a tough guy here," stated Mallory as she knelt down to the floor and ruffled Naruto's head with her right hand.

Naruto's tail began to wag as pride began to swell up within his chest. Tanya unwrap the bandages from around Naruto's midsection before she inspected the wound that the fox had gotten from the drone's lasers. The blonde was surprise to see that the wound was almost fully healed. She quickly checked the fox's legs and saw that they were almost fully healed as well.

"This is unbelievable!" exclaimed Tanya as she stared at Naruto's injuries. "This guy's wounds are almost fully healed!"

"No way!" shouted Mallory in shock.

Naruto winched at the sudden shout as he quickly dropped to the floor and held his front paws over his ears.

'_Ow! Can you tone it down a little?_' shouted Naruto within his head. '_My ears are really sensitive to loud noises._'

Mallory looked down at the fox when she noticed what had happened: "Sorry about that boy."

Naruto only let out a growl as he gave Mallory a glare before he stood up from the floor. He decided to let it slid when he suddenly heard someone coming. The fox and the two ducks quickly turned towards the door and saw the tan drake. Mallory and Tanya quickly stood up from the ground before they stood ridged as they saluted to the tan duck.

"General Canard!" exclaimed Mallory. "We didn't know that you would be back so soon."

Naruto looked at Mallory in surprise before turning to look at the tan duck that was now known as Canard. Naruto couldn't believe it, his brother was still alive. Canard walked over to the trio before he stood in front of them.

"I just got off from my meeting with my father a little earlier than I expected." Canard replied before he knelt down to Naruto's height. "I also came to check up on this guy here and to see how he was doing."

"He's doing fine," replied Tanya as she and Mallory relaxed from their salute. "But there's something you should know. This creature that you brought here to the base is making a fast recovery, much faster than any of us could heal."

"Really?" said Canard in surprise as he looked down at fox in front of him.

Naruto looked up at Canard for a moment before ducking his head down. He wanted so much to change into his true form and leap onto his brother while embracing him like there was no tomorrow. But the changeling knew better than to leap without thinking first. Canard stared down at the fox before he slipped his hand under the fox's muzzle and gently brought it up to meet his gaze. Their eyes met and the drake started to have a strange feeling as he looked into the blue eyes of the fox. Something about this creature's eyes felt familiar to him.

"You…remind me of someone," voiced Canard slowly in a soft voice.

Mallory and Tanya barely heard what the drake had said, but they didn't have time to mingle on it for very long when the alarms within the building suddenly started going off. Naruto was startled out of his wits by the sudden sound of the alarms. His fur stood on end as he began to growl while getting into a battle stance with his tail lashing out behind him. A beeping noise suddenly came from the wrist coms that Canard and the two females were wearing. The ducks quickly activated them as a voice suddenly started speaking on the other end.

"_**Come to the Northwest hall at once!**_" exclaimed the duck on the other side of the com. "_**We got a giant pest problem here!**_"

"We're on our way!" responded Canard before he shut the lid down on his communicator. "Let's move it out you two!"

Tanya and Mallory nodded before they raced out of the door Canard was about to follow them, but quickly turned back to look at the fox.

"You stay here where it's safe," said Canard in a commanding voice before he took off after the two ducks.

Naruto stood looking at the door for a moment before frowning in thought. Naruto had always listened to Canard when he was a kid, but he was a teenage/adult now and he needed to make his own choices. Naruto snorted as he shook his fur out before he ran out of the door while following the scent of his brother. Naruto kept running down the hall that his brother took until he caught the sound of gun firing and shouts from other ducks around the corner. Naruto quickly came to a halt before he slowly peeked out from around the corner and what he saw made his blood run cold.

The changeling saw a group of ducks firing their puck blasters at an eight foot tall snake with blazing red eyes. The snake had black colored scales that were as dark as the night sky and a white underbelly. The snake weaved in and out of the bullet/pucks that were fired at it, but once in a while a bullet/puck will have a lucky shot in nicking the snake's body. The snake let out a furious hiss as it glared down at the ducks that dare to oppose it. The reptile shot its head forward to bite one of the ducks, but it was quickly punched in the face by the duck it was going to attack.

The duck had light grey feathers, black hair that was tied back in a ponytail and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a sleeveless white muscle shirt with black armored shoulder pads and loose dark red pants that were held up by a grey belt. On top of the duck's head was a grey metal helmet while on the duck's lower right arm was a metal vambrace and on his left hand was a black fingerless glove with a knuckle guard on top of it. On the duck's right shoulder was a tattoo of a green upside down triangle with two hockey sticks crisscrossing with each other. The drake's name was Grin Hardwing.

Naruto was surprised on how much taller this new drake was. He was also big on muscle, but Naruto sensed that this guy was a gentle giant in nature. The snake let out a hiss as it shook its head in pain before it glared down at the larger duck in anger.

"Don't back down!" shouted Canard to the other ducks that were fighting against the snake. "Keep firing at this over grown worm!"

The soldiers did what Canard told them as they kept firing their puck blasters at the snake that had infiltrated their base. Naruto watched the battle from the shadows for he was unsure of what to do in this situation. The ducks kept firing at the snake before it suddenly shot towards Canard and incased him within its coils. The snake pinned the drake's arms to his sides while tying up the soldier's legs as well. Naruto saw that his brother was in danger as the snake loomed over the bound drake. The snake seemed to smirk as it glared down at the drake that it had in its coils. Naruto's blood began to burn in hatred as his fur rose up on his neck before he let out a snarl.

"General Canard!" shouted one of the ducks as he got ready to use his puck blaster on the snake, but Mallory quickly stopped him.

"Wait!" exclaimed Mallory as she glared at the soldier. "You might miss and accidently hit Canard!"

"Then what do you suggest we do?" questioned the solider angrily.

The red head was about to answer, but was quickly cut off when Naruto suddenly shot out from around the corner that he had been hiding behind as he ran past the surprised soldiers. The changeling leapt up at the snake that held his brother within its coils and landed on top of its body. Naruto quickly sunk his fangs into the base of where the snake's head met with the neck of its body. The snake let out an angry hiss as it wildly shook its head to get the fox off of it. Canard felt the snake's grip on him loosen and that gave him the chance to pull his right arm out from reptile's coils and aim his puck blaster at the snake's head. Canard fired at the snake's lower jaw after Naruto jumped off at the last second. The snake withered in pain before it quickly unwound itself from Canard's body. Naruto quickly ran over to Canard's side as the drake fell to the floor. He panted for breath while Naruto glared up at the snake that glowered down at the both him and Canard.

Canard knelt as he looked over at Naruto in surprise while the fox glared up at the snake that loomed over them. Naruto let out a loud snarl before he leap up the snake again and bit down on its throat. Naruto hung on like there was no tomorrow as the snake wildly shook its head around in an attempt to throw him off. The ducks and Canard watched in amazement as they witness the fox taking on an eight foot snake that could easily swallow it whole in just one bite. Naruto's fangs kept sinking deeper into the snake's flesh as he held on for dear life while he tried to think of a way to take down this over grown worm.

'_Think Naruto, think!_' shouted the fox deep within his head. '_What is the one thing that reptiles hate the most and will easily slow them down?_'

Canard quickly stood up from the ground as Mallory quickly ran up to him with Tanya and Grin coming up behind her. The female duck quickly stopped by the drake's side before placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright General?" asked Mallory.

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Canard with a nod before he looked over at the fox and the snake.

"That serpent is really ranking up some bad vibes," spoke Grin as he glared up at the snake before him.

"We gotta find a way to slow that reptile down," said Canard before an idea suddenly came up within his head. "That's it, the Saurians don't like the cold right?"

Mallory and the others nodded their heads as they answered the drake's question.

"It's the same for our giant worm friend here," continued Canard before he switched gears on his puck blaster. "Set your blasters onto freeze pucks."

The soldiers quickly did what their General told them as they changed the settings of their puck blasters. Naruto also heard what Canard said and smirked inwardly.

'_That's my brother,_' thought the fox before he began to concentrate on his chakra as he summoned up an attack that Drake and Kyuubi had taught him. '_Take this you over grown worm; __**Foxfire Ice Fang**__!_'

Naruto's fangs began to glow blue before the changeling's attack started to take effect. Foxfire Ice Fang is a special ability that will affect the enemy's bloodstream when Naruto's fangs are biting down deep into his opponent's arm, neck or leg. The attack freezes the enemy's bloodstream and makes them fall into unconsciousness for at least four weeks. The attack will activate without the enemy noticing it at first until it was too late for them to realize what was going on.

The ducks started firing freeze pucks at the snake as some of the pucks landed a direct hit on the serpent. The snake snarled before it gave one final shake to dislodge the fox from its throat. Naruto quickly let go of the snake's neck before leaping back over to Canard's side and began to growl once again. The snake shook its head for a moment before it let out a hiss as it glared angrily down at ducks, but mostly at Naruto. It brought its head back to strike but it quickly stopped when it suddenly felt a sharp pain within its body. The snake let out a loud snarl as it started to thrash around while it slammed its head or body into the walls of the hall. The ducks dodged or ducked the serpent's trashing body before they quickly drew back.

Canard quickly grabbed Naruto and leaped to the side before they could be slammed by the serpent's tail. Mallory rolled to the side before she stood up from the floor while she watched the scene before her.

"What the heck is a matter with that thing?" questioned Mallory as she held up her puck blaster and got ready to fire another freeze puck at the snake.

"I'm not sure," spoke Canard after he let go of Naruto. "But it looks like that over grown worm is in pain."

"I have a feeling that our furry friend here had something to do with the reptile's pain," rumbled Grin as he looked down at Naruto who stared right back at him with a smirk.

'_I'll never tell,_' whispered Naruto within his head.

Everyone watched the snake thrash around in pain for a while before they were suddenly blinded by a green light that suddenly surrounded the serpent's body. Everyone quickly turned their eyes away from the light so as to not be blinded by it. They soon turned their eyes back on the spot that the snake had been and saw that the over grown worm was gone.

"Where did that snake go?" asked Tanya in confusion.

"It just…disappeared," said one of the soldiers as he stared wide eyed in shock.

Naruto let out a quiet growl of uneasiness before Canard placed a hand on top of the fox's head as the drake tried to calm him down.

"Steady boy," soothed Canard as he petted the fox's head.

Naruto soon calmed down as he let his brother stroke his head, but that still didn't ease the young fox's mind for he had a feeling that it won't be the last time that he will face that over grown worm.

Unknown location: Dragaunus's master tower

A green light appeared in a large room of Dragaunus's master tower as the black snake appeared before it fell to the ground with a groan. Siege and Chameleon quickly ran into the room when their computer system told them that their comrade was back. Chameleon was the first one to make it to the snake's side.

"Buddy, what happened to ya?" asked the saurian in a panic voice.

The snake slowly turned its head as it looked at Chameleon before it opened its mouth and it began to hiss out words.

"_**I…I was attacked…by those stupid ducks,**_" hiss the snake in a tired voice as it felt the last of its strength leaving its body.

"Did you find out where the resistance headquarters is?" stepped in Siege as he glared down at the snake before him.

The snake opened its mouth to reply, but soon fainted as it felt the Naruto's _Firefox Ice Fang_ take effect on him. The snake's body began to shrink as it changed into a form of a human. The human was an 18 year old teenage boy with long black hair that was tied back into a pony tail. He was wearing a blood red long sleeve and long legged body suite with black chest armor clayed over top, black combat boots and a black belt. His skin was extremely pale with two purple triangles painted on both sides of his face.

"Hey kid!" shouted Chameleon in a panicked voice.

"Come on, we'd better get this runt to the medical bay," growled Siege as he flung the boy onto his left should and began to carry him deeper into the Master Tower with Chameleon following right behind him.

Back with Naruto

Naruto was laying on the floor within Canard's bunk for the drake had decided to move the fox into his quarters so that he could keep an eye on him. Canard's room didn't have much stuff in it. Just a bed, a chair, a desk and a photo of their family sitting one top, but Naruto had also found the one thing that people had thought was just a legend. Sitting on top of the desk was the mask of Drake DuCaine. Naruto didn't know how he knew that mask once belonged to the spirit that resided inside his body he just…felt it.

Naruto was lying on a blanket on the metal floor with his tail curled up towards his nose before his ears suddenly perked up when he heard the hiss of the door opening. Naruto lifted his head as he saw Canard entering the room with a tired look on his face while he rubbed the back of his head. The fox could tell that the drake was frustrated about something as he slowly sat up on the floor while he watched his brother flop down onto his bed with a grunt.

"Man, he just won't shut up!" exclaimed Canard in anger. "What does my old man know about fighting when he hasn't even stuck his beak out into battle once?"

Naruto cocked his head in confusion before he stood up from the floor and walked over to the bed. He stood up on his hind legs as he set his front paws down on the edge of the bed. Naruto let out a whine as he tried to get Canard's attention. The drake looked over at the fox before he sat up on his bed and raised his right hand to pet the golden K9 on the head.

"I'm okay boy," reassured Canard as he gently looked down at the fox beside him. "I'm just a little frustrated with my father right now."

Naruto dropped down to the ground as he sat with his head lying down on Canard's lap while the drake stroked his head. This was the first time since he was six years old that he was able to curl up and relax with his brother.

'_If only I could just turn back into my true form,_' thought Naruto sadly. '_Than it would really feel the same like it did 13 years ago._'

The two were quiet for a while as Canard kept petting Naruto's head in comfort with the fox resting his head in the drake's lap, but the petting soon stopped as Canard let his hand linger on the changeling's head.

"You know…you don't have to keep hiding your true form from me," said Canard suddenly.

Naruto's ears quickly flicked up when he heard what Canard said. His head shot up in surprise as he looked at the drake with wide eyes. Canard let his hand drop down from Naruto's head as he looked at fox before him.

"I already figured out who you are," voiced Canard softly as a gentle smile appeared on his beak. "Cause believe me, nobody would run head first into battle to defend their friends or in this case, their brother."

Naruto stared at Canard in surprise as he looked up into the drake's eyes, but he soon closed his eyes as he began to focus on changing into his true form. The same golden aura surrounded the fox as he changed back into his original form. Canard watched as his eyes widened in amazement as the golden fox changed into the familiar form of his little brother. Naruto sat on the floor in his original form as he stared up at Canard with the older mallard looking down at him in surprise.

"Hey…Canard," greeted Naruto in a small voice as he looked up at his brother.

Canard's only reply to Naruto's greeting was him falling to the ground onto his knees before he wrapped his arms around his adopted brother as he held the fox boy in a tight embrace. Naruto was stunned at first, but soon returned the embrace as he buried his face into his brother's neck and shoulder. Tears began to form within Naruto's eyes as he felt his feelings rise up within his chest as he let Canard hold him in his arms.

"I was so afraid that I wouldn't see you again," whispered Canard in a shaky voice as he gently nuzzled the side of his beak against Naruto's head.

"And I never thought I'd see you again either," said Naruto as he gently stroked the fingers of his right hand through his brother's feathers on the back of the drake's neck. "I almost thought that you were dead."

"You should know by now that I'm too stubborn to die little bro," said Canard as he and Naruto pulled away from each other as they looked into each other's eyes. "And I also know that you're too stubborn to die either."

"I guess it runs in the family," Naruto joked with a smirked.

Canard and Naruto soon shared a laugh with one another as the two brothers began to feel hope rise up within their hearts again. The two soon stood up from the floor and sat on the edge of Canard's bed before they began to talk with each other.

"Oh man, you little scamp!" exclaimed Canard as he ruffled Naruto's hair. "Where have you been hiding all these months? When I heard that our house had been destroyed-"

"The house was destroyed?" interjected Naruto as he stared up at his brother in shock and disbelief.

"Yeah," replied Canard sadly back as he nodded his head. "The Saurians and their Hunter Drones hit our home world pretty hard kiddo."

"Oh man, mom's going to be so upset when I tell her that our home is gone," voiced Naruto as he rubbed his hand over his face.

"Mom?" echoed Canard in shock. "You mean she's still alive too?"

"Yeah," replied Naruto with a smile as he looked over at Canard. "We got out of the house so that we could hide from the Saurian invasion."

"Where is she now? Is she okay?" asked Canard in concern.

"Yeah, she's okay," answered Naruto with a smile. "She's still a little sick, but she's getting better. We had to hide in the old part of town so that those Hunter Drones wouldn't find us."

"You left our mother alone in the oldest part of Ice City?" growled Canard as he began to feel anger rise up within him.

"She's not actually alone," said Naruto as he tried to ease his brother's tension. "I left her in the capable hands of a friend that we had made a few months ago."

"And who exactly is this friend?" asked Canard as he raised a questionable eyebrow at Naruto.

"Well…his name is Duke L'Orange," Naruto replied. "And how we met him is a really long story."

"Then you'd better start telling," said Canard.

Naruto nodded as he began to tell his older brother what had happened to him a few months ago. The teen told his brother how he and his mother met Duke in the warehouse that they were hiding in. They soon had to face off against Falcone as the over grown bird almost tried to kill them, but Duke stood up for them as the drake protected them from Falcone. Canard had to say that he was surprise and amazed that the number one thief of Puckworld would go out of his way in protecting his little brother and sick mother.

"…And he then became our protector," finished Naruto before he took a breath and waited to see what his brother would say to him.

"Well little bro I gotta tell ya," Canard started as he rubbed the back of his head with a smile on his beak. "You and mom sure had one big adventure without me there, but I'm just glad that you two are okay."

Naruto smiled for a moment before a frown came over his face: "But there's one thing I don't get bro. How did you know that it was me in my fox form?"

"Let's just say that a few hints gave you away," replied Canard with a chuckle.

"Name three," challenged Naruto.

"Well the chain around your neck for one thing," Canard pointed out. "Then it was how you jumped into help me fight against that over grown worm, but the real thing that made me realized that it was you, was your eyes."

"My eyes?" echoed Naruto in confusion.

"Yeah," voiced Canard as stroked the side of the fox boy's face. "Your eyes were the very thing that made me believe that it was you, because I have never seen anyone's eyes shine brighter than the sun itself. You have a lot of courage and spirit that I have never seen in any of the ducks here within the base."

Naruto blinked in surprise before smiling as he leaned his head against the touch of his brother's hand. After all these years Canard's gentle touch still remained the same. The 18 year old soon turned his head towards the mask of Drake DuCaine that sat on top of Canard's desk.

"So…big bro," Naruto started as he pointed towards the mask. "How did you…"

"Find the mask of Drake DuCaine?" said Canard as he finished Naruto's sentence. "It's a long story little bro."

"Well I've got time," said Naruto with a smile as he looked up at his brother.

Canard chuckled as he smiled down at his brother: "Alright, you'd better make yourself comfortable then."

Naruto did what he was told as the fox boy got himself comfortable by leaning up against his brother's side with Canard wrapping his arm around Naruto's shoulders. The 18 year old listened as Canard told him how he found the mask while basking in the warmth of his older brother's embrace. For once in his life, Naruto felt safe once again.

To be continued

I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review and tell me what you think of it. White Hunter, howling out to you and the spirits!


End file.
